Child of Night: The Sword of Souls
by the ol' fidelius charm
Summary: In the years that follow Harry's graduation, a new group come to claim the free spot as the school celebrity, and things are anything but quiet. Honestly, you'd think that after Voldemort was sealed away, the Wizarding World would get a little peace...
1. Unlike It Had Begun

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Child of Night

Author's Notes  
Welcome to the first collaboration that Ara and Scrat have actually bothered to start. Bwah. This time, we've actually sat down and developed our characters… o.O;;  
Legolas: *prances* Still the prettiest!  
Scrat-chan: --;; *mutters* Know-it-all… Anyway, we've been allowed the privilege of having our dear friend, Mr. Claus, do the disclaimer. Although, we must warn you: he suffered a terrible accident today. Please do not stare; it may cause him to suffer a nervous breakdown.

Disclaimer  
Santa's Disembodied Wooden Head: *stares around silently*  
Ara-chan: …  
Scrat-chan: Oh my. Uh… shall I do the disclaimer then?  
Ara-chan: *nods, picks up Santa's head and hides it in her brother's bed*  
Scrat-chan: *clears throat and begins disclaimer* We own nothing but the plot and any characters you don't recognize from the books.

Warnings  
1. Ara-chan is a slash maniac. Therefore, this story shall include homosexuality. If that isn't your cup of tea, then…  
Ara-chan: *pops in* Can I make a Trelawney-bashing crack there?   
Erm, no.  
Ara-chan: Aww… Please?  
I said no, Ara. Now hush.  
Ara-chan: Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—  
*mallets her* SHUT UP!  
Ara-chan: *from the ground* Oww…  
Ahem. Anything else they need to know about, Scrat?  
Scrat-chan: Child of Night contains original characters in a mostly non-Mary-Sue way. They are not intended as self-inserts. It also contains bi/homosexual characters, brief and undetailed nudity, some dark elements, mild cursing, and death.   
Oooooh. Anything else?  
Scrat-chan: *ponders* None that I can think of. ^^  
Ara-chan: *slightly dazedly* *sings* One… Is the loneliest number…  
Scrat-chan: *sings* Ohh, it happens every time, ooh, ohh…  
*blinks and stares* Erm, now that all this is over, enjoy the story! *waddles off to narrate elsewhere *

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Child of Night  
_And the Sword of Souls  
_By Ara Moon and Jesse's Peanut Butter Princess  
**-Chapter One-  
Unlike It Had Begun**

Black rain. It appeared as though the night sky was pouring down black rain droplets. The water ran over the outer layer of her fur, and she sighed quietly. _Well…_ she thought, _at least I'm a bit closer to a full transfiguration…_

Resignedly, fur was replaced by soft skin, paws were replaced by long five-fingered hands, and sharp golden eyes faded to an emerald-flecked hazel. With a pop, a long, gray muzzle returned to the shape of a feminine nose, and bones slid back into place. 

"Augh… _Another_ transfiguration ending up like the Muggle idea of a werewolf…" The girl groaned before walking off deeper into the dark woods, muttering as she tugged at her torn clothes. She ran a hand through her hair, turning her face up as she did. Rain pelted her face, though she didn't seem to care. 

Suddenly, she stopped walking. Something was screaming out to her from the back of her mind, but the words were unclear. Then she saw it—the moon was full tonight. And it was shining down on her from a crack in the clouds. 

"Oh, shit."

Running as fast as she could and ignoring the feeling of a bone in her knee that had not properly popped into place, the girl rushed through the trees. Rain started pouring harder, and she silently cursed it. The wet ground was slowing her down considerably. What she wouldn't give to be able to transfigure completely right about now…

A howl reached her ears as she reached the door to an abandoned-looking house, signifying that she was indeed too late. As she threw open the door, she vaguely noticed a spilled goblet on the floor. She didn't have much time to look at it, though, because she was soon locking the door behind her and dashing up the stairs to her room. 

A low growl rumbled behind her, and soon the sleek form of a wolf was rushing up at her. Ducking into a small, empty, single-windowed room, the girl waited, though not for long. As soon as the creature entered the room, she slammed the door closed, locking it automatically. She then leaped out the window and into a tree. The window clattered shut behind her.

"Damn Professor What's-His-Name," she grumbled, positioning herself somewhat comfortably in the branches. "If he had only sent Daddy his Wolfsbane Potion earlier, he could have at least been able to keep his mind during the transformation. I hate to think of what he's going through right now, knowing how close he was to turning me into a werewolf, too…" 

Standing and leaning back against the tree, she sighed, suddenly angry with herself. She slammed one clenched fist back into the tree, the bark tearing small lines through her flesh. "If only I had remembered that tonight was the night of the full moon…" she growled to herself. Still muttering, she hopped down from her tree, collapsing to the ground when her knee gave way.

Again she sighed, rolling onto her back on the muddy ground. For a while she lay there, rain soaking her tattered clothes and dripping down her face. She let her thoughts wander until scratching and a low whine cut through the storm.

Up in the second-floor room, the wolf was scratching at the glass, whining lowly in a dog-like way. The girl pushed herself up, smiling slightly. "Don't worry, Daddy, I'm fine," she called up to the wolf. _You know, anyone walking by here would think you're a complete moron, laying in the mud and calling up to a wolf_, a voice in her head said. 

__

Well, no one would walk by here, now would they? This is one of the most secluded forests the Ministry of Magic could find in New York, she replied, and the voice grumbled before fading away. Inside, the wolf whined again. Noting that her father seemed to have gotten at least half of the Wolfsbane Potion down, she said, "Okay, fine, _Mom_, I'll go inside and clean myself up. I'll see you tomorrow morning, all right?" 

The girl pushed herself up on her good leg, and adjusted her other one before slamming it down hard, popping the bone back into place. She cringed slightly and limped into the small house, vaguely aware of the large amount of mud on her back and legs. The rain was still pouring down, harder and darker than before.

Pulling off her clothes, the girl grabbed a towel and sat down on it in front of the fireplace. She gingerly waved her hand through the flame, enjoying the feeling of the fire licking at her flesh. It was warm, but didn't burn her. Mentally, she noted to thank her father for conjuring a fire before he transformed. 

Suddenly, a head appeared in the fire. The girl blinked as it focused its eyes on her hand, then sniggered at its cross-eyed expression. "Get your hand _OUT_ of my nose!" it yelled, and she complied, falling back laughing. 

Slowly she calmed down, and grinned at the glaring head. "Ah, Sirius-'tousan, to what do I owe this appearance of your lovely disembodied head in our fireplace?" The man's head rolled its deep blue eyes. "Oh, shut up. Where's Remus? I want to talk to you both." 

The girl stared at him for a minute. Then, she gestured to the window with her head. "Erm, Dad, have you looked out a window recently?" The shaggy-haired head disappeared for a minute, then popped back in. It looked worried. 

"Oh, shit," it said simply, and the girl nodded.

"Those were my words exactly. Are you sure you failed Divination in school, Dad?"

Paying no attention to her words, the man said, "Well, where is he? Did he get out into the woods? Why aren't you looking for him? Is--" 

At this point, the girl took one of her soaked socks and stuffed it into his mouth. "Hush, Otousan. Fasha Number Two is fine. He only managed to get down half his Wolfsbane Potion, though. I was in the woods, practicing my wolf transfiguration, when I noticed the full moon was out. I rushed home, but I was too late. He's now locked up in the old storage room we emptied out." The other head nodded thoughtfully, spitting out the dirty sock. 

"He didn't bite you, did he?" he asked, still worried. The girl grinned at him. 

"I never thought I'd see the day… Sirius Black, ex-convict, illegal Animagus, boyfriend of a werewolf, and one of the greatest pranksters that English wizarding school, Pogforts or whatever, has ever seen, acting like a father…" She faked a sniffle. "Aww… Look, you brought a tear to my eye…" 

Again, the head rolled its eyes. "Oh, shut up and answer me. Did he bite you?" The girl rolled her eyes back. 

"No, he didn't, Dad. Came close to, but he managed to gain control in time." She glared angrily, though it wasn't directed to anyone in the room. "Dammit! Professor Whoever _knew_ that a Wolfsbane Potion needs to be ingested the week _preceding _the full moon. Anyone who knows a thing about potions should know that, especially one who can concoct such an advanced potion. I can just picture the guy who sent it late. Probably a greasy-haired Death Eater who's smirking like a jerk right about now."

"Ex-Death Eater, actually," Sirius said, blinking. "I really hope you don't end up as some Divination freak when _you_ go to Hogwarts… They're all so annoying… Divination is a bunch of crap, if you ask me…" Turning back to face him, the girl blinked. 

"What do you mean, 'When I go to Hogwarts?' That's in Scotland, Dad! We're in America. Well, Remus-'tousan and I are. You're wherever you feel like most of the time--" Her sentence was interrupted by a loud crackling of flames, and she blinked again. Another head had joined her father's in the fireplace, and it had a familiar scar in the center of its forehead…

Her expression changed to a blank, emotionless one, except for the slightest trace of a glare in her eyes. "Harry Potter," she said, nodding slightly. The green eyes, previously roaming around the room, settled on her. Then they opened widely as blood rushed to his face, painting it crimson. 

The girl raised a single, well-shaped eyebrow. "What's the matter with you, Potter? Fireplace too hot for your oh-so delicate face?" Sirius shot her a warning look. Harry stuttered, "Y-you aren't wearing… anything…" and immediately looked down. 

Rolling her eyes, the girl replied, "Oh, _please_, Potter. Don't tell me that the Boy-Who-Lived is the Man-Who-Never-Got-La—" 

"ARIANNA OOKAMI BLACK!" her father roared, and the girl gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry 'bout that, Dad." Arianna looked around, shrugged, and tossed her long gold-shimmering brown hair over her breasts. Crossing her legs, she asked, "Better now?" The raven-haired male nodded. 

"So, yet again, I ask: to what do I owe the appearance of your lovely disembodied heads in my fireplace?" Sirius thought for a second before blinking with recognition. 

"Oh, yeah… Well, guess what?" Arianna stared at him for a second, sending him an I'd-rather-not look. He seemed not to notice this, and if he had, he continued anyway. "I told Harry about the, erm, relationship between your father and I, and he doesn't care, so now you've got yourself a godbrother!" Again, Arianna stared at him. There seemed to be a message she was sending to him without a word: _Should I be happy?_

The voice re-arose, yelling, _No! Not him! That bloody little prat destroyed the Dark Lord!_

Arianna blinked again. _Do you even know what a "bloody little prat" is?_

Not a clue, the voice replied,_ but that doesn't matter. It sounds like it would be a bad thing, right? _

To this, she shrugged mentally. _I guess so. And what's so bad about his destroying Lord Voldemort? His finest moment, if you ask me. _

Your forehead and wrists, the voice retorted dryly, and Arianna gulped, rubbing her wrists together absentmindedly. Shortly after Remus and Sirius adopted her from the Muggle orphanage she had lived in for about two years, slightly over four years ago, Sirius had sneaked her two thick gold bands for her to wear around her wrists, which she liked covered. They were enchanted, unbreakable pure gold and encrusted with various magical jewels. It even doubled as an assistant in concentrating magical energy into her hands, as she had yet to buy a wand. 

"That's _lovely_," Arianna said finally, the sarcasm nearly undetectable. "Anything else to say before I pour water on the fire and get in the extra thirteen hours of sleep I've been missing?" Sirius smiled widely. 

"You won't be able to get in that much sleep tonight, I'm afraid." The brunette glared at him tiredly.

"And why not?" she demanded. The grin spread.

Dramatically, Sirius announced, "The day after tomorrow, once your father has recovered, you two'll come over to England to get your supplies for Hogwarts at Diagon Alley!" Arianna just stared at him, partially overcome with shock. She hadn't really thought much about her schooling. After the way it had been six years ago… Well, she hadn't thought that she would ever have to leave her new home. 

Blinking for the umpteenth time, she said, dazedly, "I'm going to a wizarding school in Scotland."

The ex-convict stared at her.

"Yes, yes you are."

"I'm going to a wizarding school in Scotland," she repeated.

"Erm, Arianna?"

"I'm going to a wizarding school in Scotland."

"Yes, we've already established that, dear."

"Err, Sirius, is she okay?"

Arianna grinned broadly, shooting up. "I'm going to a wizarding school in Scotland!" she exclaimed, kissing the two floating heads on the cheeks. Sirius stared strangely at her while Harry blushed. 

"I solemnly swear," she said, looking almost seriously at her father, "that I will be the best prankster Hogwarts has seen since the days of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."

He nodded, smiling slightly.

"I know you'll make me proud."

Harry coughed gently, and both others in the room looked to him. He blushed red again, and Arianna wondered if his head would fall into the fire if he were to pass out from all that blood. She almost giggled at the mental picture of the great Harry Potter's disembodied head laying in her fireplace. 

"Erm, if you like, I could help you through your years in Hogwarts. Since I, you know, went through seven years of schooling there, and I know who to look out for, and everything… And, after all, I eventually will be moving in with you guys, as I'm now your godbrother…" Harry's shyness was surprising, to say the least. Arianna almost felt sorry for him. 

"Sure, whatever you want, Potter," she said, nonchalantly. A loud howl tore the air behind her, and she looked towards the stairs. "Any clue what time it is?" she asked, imagining sadly what her father was going through. Sirius' head disappeared. Harry sat—er, floated there, looking at her nervously. Arianna rolled her eyes.

"Oh, stop it, Potter. It's annoying. There's not much about me that you should be _that_ nervous about." _Phht. Yeah, right_, the voice said. _Oh, shut up_, she retorted. 

__

And if I don't? What would you do, hmm? Cut off your head? That wouldn't work, anyway. I'm not in your mind, Arianna, dear. I'm so much deeper than that.

Before she could question what the ever-appearing voice meant, Harry unknowingly interrupted the mental conversation. "Er, Arianna, what's that on your, er, forehead?" he asked sheepishly. _If he continues "er"-ing nervously, I'll— _"Wait, what?"

Harry looked at her sheepishly. "In the center of your forehead, right where my scar is." Arianna tried to look up, but ended up cross-eyed before she realized what he meant. Smoothing her bangs down to cover it better, she quickly said, "A scar, like yours. A mark of powerful magic that will haunt me forever." She silenced herself, a haunted look apparent in her eyes. Harry looked at her sympathetically, and looked like he was about to say something, when Sirius popped back in. 

"Nearly two in the morning," he said, yawning tiredly. His long black hair fell back, revealing haunted sapphire eyes, and deep in her mind she thought that he would have been much more handsome now had he never spent all that time in Azkaban. _Emotional and mental torment can do wonders on ones body. That's evident in everyone in this family, _she commented bitterly to herself. 

Arianna yawned in turn, and so did Harry. Moments later, the two large owls that had appeared on the windowsill yawned simultaneously. They all laughed before she walked over to it. Untying a note from the larger, brown one, she read aloud:

__

Lupin-

Professor Dumbledore requests your presence as teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts for the coming year, as the previous teacher met an unfortunate end at the hands of a lawnmower and a can of soup.

Arianna paused, and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"A lawnmower and a can of soup? How in bloody hell is _that_ possible?"

Arianna shrugged. 

"No clue. Oh, and have I told you lately that your British accent has gotten worse lately, father dearest?" He growled, and Arianna smiled innocently. She continued on. 

_Apparently Professor Dumbledore is unfazed by your past failure as teacher of this position, and after I offered to take the position myself, he insisted we call upon you. Please feel free to turn down this offer, as I am sure your… ailment… might prove as quite a problem during the school year, what with the absences every once a month and the complaints that are sure to come in from the parents. _

Both Sirius and Arianna were growling in a rather canine way. Harry was glaring at an invisible writer of the letter. "How much would you like to bet that Snape wrote that?" Arianna read the rest.

__

Send back your response as soon as possible, or the offer will be revoked as pre-school preparations must be started.

-Severus Snape, Potions Master

PS: It seems as though I miscalculated when the night of the full moon was. I do_ hope you managed to get the potion in time, for I believe Azkaban might still have a cell clear from the days when your dear friend Black was there, and spreading your ailment is sure to land you a room there._

Arianna made note of the name as she said, "Can we write him back? 'Dear Professor Snape. You are a greasy little git who deserves to burn in eternal He--'" At that moment, a tiny, hyper owl flew into the room, directly into her mouth. Arianna spat it up, and glared at it.

"What is it? 'Attack Arianna With Owls and Strange Information Day'?" Another owl fluttered in, and she let her head fall into her hands.

Harry exclaimed, "Hedwig!"

Arianna glared.

"What did you just call me!?"

Harry looked at her nervously. "Er, Hedwig… My owl… Behind you…" Arianna blinked, then grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

Quickly, Arianna scribbled a reply to Professor Snape in a manner that she hoped made her sound like her father, and tied it to the proud owl's leg. Then she grabbed the note from the newest owl and read through it. 

__

Dear Mister Sirius Black-

It has come to our attention that you have requested to become Mister Harry Potter's legal guardian. While in most cases, this would have been a quick decision, certain complications in the situation makes this much more difficult. 

Arianna skimmed over the rest, and rolled her eyes. "Oh, _please_," she said, and Sirius shot her a questioning look. "According to some crackpot Ministry rule, because you spent time in Azkaban, have no legal martial equal, reside in the home of a werewolf, and care for a bastard child like me, you'll have to wait three years before the Ministry will make you Harry's legal guardian." _Ooh, on a first-name basis with Mister Potter, are you?_ the voice teased. She shot it a mental glare, making note to later evaluate her sanity.

Sirius growled, probably clenching his fists, and Harry looked crestfallen. Despite her dislike for the boy, it broke her heart to see his hopes and dreams shattered. Putting on the most sincere-looking smile she could muster, she said, "Hey, look at the bright side: At least they didn't say no. And anyway, the Ministry is filled with imbeciles. You saw how long it took them to take action with Voldemort." Harry smiled at her, but he had a faint trace of shock in his emerald eyes. Arianna detected it, and rolled hers.

"Okay, what's shocking you now, Mister Potter? I am perfectly aware I am still nude, by the way."

Harry blushed, and said quietly, "Erm, well, you said… you said Lord Voldemort's name. I've only heard Professor Dumbledore, your fathers, and myself speak his name aloud." Again Arianna rolled her green-flecked hazel eyes, and made note not to anymore as they were beginning to ache. 

"Potter, Potter, Potter," she said, grinning. "I spent my late developing years in this house, with this family. These two are about as unafraid of the word 'Voldemort' as I am of prancing naked down a busy Muggle street screaming, 'The cheese is coming! The cheese is coming! Arm yourselves, as the cheese is coming!'"

Sirius glared at her. "That was YOU?!" he asked, yelling. Arianna grinned sheepishly before continuing.

"Anyway, it catches. Most people are afraid of saying the name because their parents always discouraged it. By putting more fear in the name, they put even more fear in the person. I also suppose that it was like one of those old tales you hear; that if you are to say the name, it summons back the evil, and very, very few people besides Death Eaters wanted old Voldie back."

Harry nodded, thoughtfully. "You're wise for an eleven-year-old, Arianna. With a mind that's as deep as yours, you'll probably end up a regular Hermione," he said with a chuckle, and Arianna grinned. She might not have been too fond of the guy, but a compliment was a compliment, and from what she had been told, Hermione Granger was a magical genius. 

Sirius pouted. "She will not," he said, and she couldn't help but grin wider. Her ebony-haired father could act like such a child at times, she thought. It was those times, those moments when the hollow, haunted look disappeared, that she enjoyed the most. 

Arianna opened the next letter with mild interest. The tiny fluffball that had nearly choked her had been carrying a note from Karamin Random Wizardry, a shop that sold just about anything that had to do with magic, from potion ingredients to broomsticks to books to toys. Since she worked there, the owner managed to order some enchanted Muggle CDs for her, ones that never scratched or broke. Making note to visit the store before she left, she untied the note from Hedwig's ankle, and read it aloud in a perfect British accent.

__

Harry-

What? Your scar hurt? I'll check in Magical Scars, Marks, and Ailments, Volume 22_. Of course, there might not be much about scars from the Avada Kedavra curse. After all, you _are_ the only one to survive it._ The voice in Arianna's head scoffed. _Maybe you should write Sirius—_

"Yes, _Harry_, you _should_ have written Sirius…" The brunette blocked out the rest of her father's lecture to Harry, petting the owl as it hooted quietly in pleasure. Arianna smiled. She loved all animals and magical creatures, from nundus to owls to boggarts. They were all so interesting, and they were each so connected with nature and everything beyond human's limited minds.

Hedwig nipped gently at Arianna's fingers, and she walked over to the cabinet to get some owl feed. Finally, Sirius stopped lecturing Harry and said, "Well, Ari, get some sleep. Be packed and ready by noon on Friday, and remember to tell your father. _Harry_ and I have something to discuss."

Harry said a sheepish, "G'night," before popping out of the fireplace. Arianna smiled at her dad. 

"Don't go _too_ hard on Potter, Sirius-'tousan. He probably didn't want to worry you with his scar hurting." She put Hedwig's food down, and all the owls attacked it. Arianna pecked Sirius on the cheek. 

"Oyasumi nasai, Otousan. Love ya. Have many sweet, Remus-youfu filled dreams." Sirius blinked. 

"'Remus-youfu?'" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Arianna sighed before yawning. "I looked it up in Karamin's; 'youfu' means adoptive father. It just popped up in my head, so I figured I'd get used to it. It gets confusing; I'm thinking of naming you Father Alpha and Father Beta. Though then I'd have to see which one of you is the dominant one, and there are some things in life I need not witness."

Sirius grinned at her, said his goodnight, and Arianna was left in the small cabin, the house bathed in silence except for the quiet whimpers from the upstairs room. She doused the fireplace, opened the windows, and tossed herself onto the ratty couch. Hedwig fluttered over and perched on the other arm of the couch as Arianna pulled an old blanket out from beneath the couch. 

And, nude except for a blanket, Arianna let the black rain of night lull her into much-needed slumber, the pattering blocking out the whimpers and hoots. 

__

"Kagami!"

She turned around, looking around for the voice with the full curiosity of a five-year-old girl. Soon spotting the cloaked boy, she ran through the rain, giggling. "Hey, Ijirashii!" she shouted, grinning.

Ijirashii grinned at her. "Elder Marvolo sent me to get you! Is it true? You passed the initiation test, so now you get your marks?" he asked excitedly, light sparkling in his molten silver eyes. Kagami grinned, and replied, "Yup! Where are they?" The four-year-old boy grabbed her by the wrist, and they dashed off towards a clearing where about twenty other cloaked figures stood. 

The duo paused, catching their breath and fixing up their cloaks. Stepping into order with the five other hooded children of her learning group, they awaited the cool voice of their leader. Kagami shifted her weight from foot to foot in anxious excitement. 

Finally, the voice floated through the group, like flames through the rain. "Today, we have another member to properly initiate," the man said, shiny bald head protruding from his cloak. "She has gone through the initiation tasks with flying colors, and is most deserving of the honor of becoming a Shadow Mage. Number six three nine, Kagami, step forward." The girl complied, stifling a grin.

"Your wrists, please," he commanded in an uncaring way. Kagami pulled back the sleeves of her cloaks, exposing the sensitive flesh of her wrists. The man took out his wand and placed the tip on each wrist, muttering an incantation. A black star appeared at the center. She could feel her best friend beaming at her from behind. 

The man turned with a swish of his cloak. He turned his head back towards her, a malicious smirk on his thin lips, unadulterated evil sparkling in the cold depths of his ice blue eyes. "Chekkumeito," he said, and a burning sensation tore through her veins, white-hot pain blinding her. She howled, and collapsed to her knees, tearing at her wrists, wanting relief, wanting to be free of the pain. 

The elders left, dragging a reluctant Ijirashii with them. Kagami tossed her head back, tears blending with black rain. The pain was pumping through her like blood, and it seemed like it would never end. Another howl tore from her throat, followed by painful, choked sobs. Two cloaked figures stood nearby, watching. Kagami turned to them. 

"Mommy, Daddy!" she cried desperately, but they just watched on. The pain ripped through her in a new wave, and she dug her nails into her arms. It subsided with an empty low, and she finally passed out after one last howl into the moonlight. 

"Arianna, wake up!" 

The brunette blinked, rubbing her eyes. Her tired-looking father was standing above her, a worried look tainting his features. Arianna sat up slowly, rubbing her temples. "Yes, Dad?" 

Remus frowned. "You were howling in your sleep again. Still having dreams that you're a werewolf?" he asked, and Arianna chewed on her lower lip. She hated lying to her father, especially about anything that might hurt him like nightmares about lycanthropy that he convinced himself he was the cause of, because the dreams were always the worst around the full moon. 

Nodding slightly, Arianna tossed her legs over the side of the couch and stood, blanket wrapped around her. "What time is it?" she asked, groaning. She started walking into the kitchen, following her apron-clad father.

"About eight o'clock. Why?" Arianna stopped, turning around. 

"What?!" she exclaimed, dropping the blanket and rushing up the stairs. "I've got to get to Swagsville and tell Mr. Karamin that I'm leaving for Scotland…" The hazel-eyed girl dodged into her room, pulled a suitcase from her closet, and started stuffing it full with all her clothes. Remus came rushing into her room. 

"What did you say?!" he asked, startled. Without looking up from her packing, Arianna replied, "Sirius 'called' yesterday. He talked to Potter; he'd be more than happy to become your godson—" Remus' face lit up, "—but then we got a letter from the Ministry saying that due to the 'family circumstances,' you'll have to wait three years." Her father's face fell, and she silently cursed the Ministry. 

Then she remembered the other letters. "Oh, and Hogwarts sent along two letters. I've been accepted and Dad's picking us up around noon in two days to go get supplies in Diagon Alley, and some git named Snape wrote about your getting a position as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year." She handed him the letter, and finished packing. 

"Now, my dear father," she said, pecking him on the cheek, "I must go alert my employer that I'm going to Hogwarts and will no longer be able to work during the year. Ta ta." As she headed out of the room, her father called, "Arianna! Wait!" She paused, rolling her eyes. 

"Yes, father dearest?" she asked impatiently. Remus grinned sheepishly at her. "Err, Ari, you forgot your clothes." Arianna blinked, looked down, and rushed back into her room. Remus laughed and left to go pack. 

Tomorrow, they were going to Scotland.

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¤~End First Chapter~¤

And so ends the first chapter of Book One in our Child of Night series. Dun dun DUNN. *cue evil laughter* ^_^ Next chapter should be better than this one, as my dear Scrat is writing it! Yay! Well, stay tuned. La la la. Aww, dammit, Scrat, you take over.

Scrat: *takes over* BWAHAHA, I HAVE TAKEN OVER! *cough* Now, whatever Ara-chan may say, I'm not better than her, dammit! Simply… more taking-over-ish. Am I making sense? Wait! Before we end this chapter, I have a quick Reader's Poll *trumpets blare importantly* that I would like you to answer in your review. (…You ARE going to review… aren't you? …*gets no reply* AREN'T YOU?! *panics*)

**__**

READER'S POLL  
Who would you like to pair Harry with, romantically?  
Responses can be any character his age, male or female.  
Results may not necessarily coincide with the character with the most votes; rather the character that we (Ara and Scrat) feel most inspired to write.  
Thank you.


	2. Just a Little More

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Child of Night

Author's Note: Scrat-chan here! It be my turn to write! *cackles and rubs hands together gleefully* Sorry if Arianna is a bit out-of-character; I'm not used to writing with characters whose personalities I didn't create myself. *cough*  
Disclaimer: *sigh* Again, we own nothing that you recognize from the Harry Potter series. God help us all if the two of us ever get our hands on ownership of anything important. 

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Child of Night  
_And the Sword of Souls  
_By Ara Moon and Jesse's Peanut Butter Princess  
**-Chapter Two-  
Just a Little More**

Arianna crept out of her room later that morning and to the bedroom that Remus occupied. She slowly opened the door a crack. Noting that he was fast asleep, she sighed, pushed the door open, and sauntered to his bedside, where she immediately proceeded in poking him in the forehead multiple times.

"Fasha… Fasha, wake up!" She gave him one last jab.

Remus muttered something incoherent in return and rolled over. Arianna scowled.

"_FASHA_," Arianna demanded, tossing the covers off of him.

"Whaddya wan'?" Remus mumbled inanely.

"It's time to go," she told him. "The Portkey is set for ten-thirty, and it's a quarter after right now."

There was a pause as Remus comprehended this.

"…_What_?!"

He leapt out of bed and began hopping around, trying to find socks that matched while combing his hair at the same time. Arianna stood back against the wall and watched, amused.

"Come on, come on, we're going to be late!" Remus cried. Arianna chuckled, not moving, as Remus hopped on one foot out of his bedroom to the living room, where their suitcases sat next to the Portkey, which was a large, tattered yellow umbrella, which was useless because of the many holes it had acquired over the years.

Arianna lazily followed her father to the living room and picked up her suitcase. She scratched the side of her head while Remus raced around, grabbing random objects at the last minute and shoving them into his suitcase.

"That's what you get for falling asleep before you're finished packing," said Arianna.

"Don't be a smart-ass, Arianna," Remus said as he wedged a spatula into the corner of his suitcase.

"The clock is ticking…" she said, ignoring her father's comment. "Tick tock, tick tock…"

"FINISHED!" he announced proudly, shoving a bottle of bleach into the (minimal) remaining space and sitting on his suitcase, while Arianna fastened it shut for him.

"Great," Arianna said with a touch of sarcasm to her voice. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Eight hands of different lengths and colors whirled around on their vertex, pausing at seemingly random points and switching directions. "We have exactly thirty seconds." She reached forward and grabbed the handle of the umbrella. Remus frantically grabbed the other end. "Breathe, Remus-'tousan. Breathe."

"I'm breathing," he replied. Arianna couldn't tell if his tone was irritable, sarcastic, or neither, but before she had time to ponder it, she felt the Portkey jerk her forward and into a portal, which was dark and bright at the same time. A split second later, she found herself flat on her back in the middle of Diagon Alley.

"So this is Diagon Alley…" she said to herself.

"Yup… Ah, this brings back such memories," Remus murmured. Arianna coughed as a goofy grin spread across her father's face.

"Um… right. So where is Sirius-'tousan?"

"He said he'd meet up with us later," Remus replied, removing the dreamy expression. "Let's go get your school stuff first."

"'Kay."

Arianna gazed around at her surroundings as the two made their way to Gringotts, which was clear on the other side of the alley. Witches and wizards could be seen everywhere she looked, trying to bargain their way into a lower price for the goods they wanted. Most of them were wearing black or dark blue robes, some of them with an owl perched on their shoulder or a cat prowling at their feet. Arianna laughed to herself as a man in his mid-fifties burst out of his shop, chasing after an owl that had obviously somehow gotten loose. Feathers flew everywhere as he tried to grab the poor, frantically squawking bird.

After Arianna had gotten her money, she and Remus stood just outside the entrance of the large marble bank, looking at their surroundings.

"What do you want to get first?" Remus asked.

"Boring stuff first. Books, then Potions supplies. Then we'll do the fun stuff, like… wands. And… stuff."

"Sounds good."

Little did Arianna know that books were anything but boring. Or, at least, the ones at Flourish and Blotts weren't. For, right as they stepped into the shop, they were greeted by the clerk shouting, "BACK! BACK, I SAY!"

Of course, he wasn't shouting this at Arianna and Remus; he was shouting it at a large, brown rattlesnake, who had coiled itself on top of a large pile of thick, gold-red books. It was baring its fangs and rattling its tail loudly.

"Uh… sir?" Remus began.

"I'll be with you in a moment, sir!" he called over his shoulder. He aimed his wand at the snake and mumbled "Reversosis!" The snake suddenly froze, fell limp, and melted into the form of a book, pages and all. Breathing heavily, the clerk set the book back upright to display the title proudly. Gold script boasted the words, **_The Transfiguring Book of Transfiguration – _**by Mariah Paragon.

"What was _that_ about?" Arianna asked, tearing her eyes away from the seemingly harmless textbooks.

"Our newest shipment of Transfiguration books are rather special, you see," the poor clerk explained, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his sleeve. "They're specially charmed so that they transfigure themselves into rattlesnakes if you try to write on them or try to tear out the pages. This one attacked me when I came at it with a quill, because I was trying to write 'Display Copy' on the inside cover."

Both Arianna and Remus stared at the man silently.

"…So, starting at Hogwarts?"

Five minutes later, Arianna and Remus left Flourish and Blotts with their arms full of seemingly useless textbooks that they had somehow managed to pay for.

"Uh… Arianna, dear… these books are getting kind of heavy. I'll go get your Potions supplies; you don't need me to hover over you while you get your wand." He shifted the four books onto one hip and extracted a few Galleons from his pocket. He slipped them into one of Arianna's robe pockets. "Meet me in front of Ollivander's when you're done."

"'Kay."

The two went their separate ways. Arianna was dying to go inside the Magical Creatures shop and get an owl or something, but she would have to ask Remus or Sirius first, and she only had enough money with her to get a wand anyway, and that was first priority.

"Hello?" she called as she opened the door to the seemingly empty shop. She was greeted by a cloud of dust rising up and POOF-ing her in the face. She coughed and set her books on the counter. She was about to call again when suddenly an old man who _had_ to be at least ninety popped up from behind the counter.

"Hello, my precious," he said slowly, a grin spreading across his thin, bony cheeks. "How may I help you?"

"I need a wand…"

"Oh, of course, you do!"

Arianna winced as he whistled the S on "course" loudly. The old man didn't seem to notice, though, as he was already selecting a wand from the shelves.

"Ten inches, rigid, elm. Contains one dragon heartstring," he announced, lifting the wand from its box. He handed it to her.

Knowing exactly what to do, she gave the wand a small wave. Nothing happened.

The man grabbed it from her hand and handed her another one.

And another. And another. And another.

"Hmm. Got ourselves a tricky one here!" the man, who Arianna now perceived to be Mr. Ollivander himself, muttered to himself. "Hmm…" He picked up a box, looking at it curiously. "Perhaps… perhaps this one."

He handed it to her. The moment it touched her hand, she felt a tingling sensation all up and down her right arm, and her fingertips glowed a dark shade of blue.

"Interesting. Very interesting," he murmured as he took the wand from Arianna and began packaging it in tissue paper.

"What? What's interesting?"

"This wand is no ordinary wand. It's very special." He put the lid back on the box. "For in its core are two ingredients that I don't normally use. Tooth of a nundu and powdered shell of an occamy egg."

__

Tooth of a what and powdered shell of a who?

"Also," the old man continued. "It contains an enchantment. It is connected to another wand. The two who receive these two wands…" He paused for dramatic effect. "…are destined for each other."

Arianna blinked.

"Destined?"

"Yes. And it just so happens I sold the other wand a few hours ago to a young lad just your age." He cheerfully handed the box containing her wand to Arianna.

"Who?" Arianna asked hungrily.

"I cannot say," said Ollivander. "One day, when you are ready, you will know."

"Great. That helps me a bunch." Frowning, she paid him, picked up her things, and went outside to wait for Remus, but he was already there, waiting for _her_. A cauldron full of assorted ingredients, as well as the textbooks that they had bought previously, stood next to him.

"Oh, hello, Arianna, dear. Did you get your wand?" he asked, sounding tired.

"Yes, I did," she replied, deciding not to tell him what Mr. Ollivander had said. She dumped her stack of textbooks and the box containing her wand into the cauldron. "Oh, Daddy Dearest, whom I love with all my heart?"

"No."

"Dad, can I get an owl? Please? I don't want to have to borrow my friends' owls or use the school ones, and how am I supposed to keep in touch with Sirius-'tousan otherwise?" Arianna begged.

Remus sighed. "Oh, all right, I suppose."

"Yay! Thank you!" she exclaimed, placing a kiss on his cheek. She raced inside, eager to pick out her owl.

But, minutes later, she emerged not with an owl, but a cat – a rather large, gray-brown ball of fluff, covered with intricate markings all over her body.

"Thank you, Daddy," she breathed, petting the cat as it gnawed her wrist.

"Why do I let you talk me into these things…?" Remus could be heard muttering.

"What was that?" Arianna asked.

"Nothing, nothing. Um… what's your cat's name?"

"Her name is Luna. Lumina P. Winkleton, but better known as Luna."

"What's the P stand for?"

"Don't ask."

"All right, I won't then… but it's getting to be almost lunchtime; should we go meet up with Harry and Sirius now?" Remus asked as Luna hissed at him. Arianna bopped the cat on the head and nodded. "They're waiting for us at the Leaky Cauldron; let's go."

Arianna followed Remus to the inn, doting over her precious kitty all the while. They arrived within seconds, and Remus guided his daughter to the table that Harry and Sirius could be found sitting at.

"Lovely cat, Ari," Sirius said as she sat down.

"Thanks Sirius-'tousan," she replied, scratching Luna behind one ear. Luna clamped onto Arianna's finger, digging her razor-sharp teeth into the skin. Arianna shook her finger out of the cat's mouth. She looked up. Harry was blushing again, probably from the memory of seeing her in the nude. She said nothing. "So did you guys get everything you need?"

"Yeah," Sirius answered, noting that Harry was looking rather flushed. "Harry's taking an advanced Transfiguration class this year. The clerk was thoroughly thrilled when we told him we didn't need one of those rattlesnake books."

Arianna and Remus both nodded.

There was a long silence before Harry quietly stood and announced that he was supposed to go meet Ron and Hermione in front of Madame Malkin's shop. Sirius nodded, and Harry left.

"I'm rather tired, so I'm going to go up to the room and relax," Arianna said, clutching Luna (who scrambled furiously to be let go) and standing up.

"Okay. Don't want you tired for your first day of school." Sirius fumbled in his pocket, then tossed a key to her. "Room nineteen."

"Thanks."

****

~*~

Three hours later, Arianna awoke from her nap to the sound of someone knocking on the door. Groggily, she rose to go answer the door. Luna was nowhere to be found, but she decided she would worry about that later.

The person on the other side of the door knocked again, this time more agitatedly.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'," Arianna groaned. She swung the door open. She was greeted by a girl about her age, wearing a purple bathrobe and fluffy blue slippers. Luna had attached herself to the girl's head.

"Is this yours?" the girl said, glowering.

"Luna!" Arianna squealed, prying the cat from the girl's head. "Thank you for finding my cat."

The girl muttered something that sounded like, "_She_ found _me,_" before smiling and saying, "It was no problem."

"Are you starting at Hogwarts tomorrow?" Arianna asked. Luna munched thoughtfully on a strand of Arianna's hair.

"Yes, I am," she replied.

"Oh, good; can I hope to see you at King's Cross?"

"Probably." She tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, looking at Luna warily. The feline was staring at her with a malicious-looking glint in her eyes as she chewed on her owner's hair. "What's your name?"

"Arianna Black."

"I'm Grace McCartney; pleasure to meet you." She grinned.

Arianna turned and sat on her bed, setting Luna next to her. She motioned for Grace to come inside. She did, pulling the door shut behind her, and took a seat on the end of the bed. Luna padded over and began rubbing up against her side.

"Interesting cat you've got here…" Grace murmured, trying to brush the ball of fur away.

"Yeah, I just got 'er today," Arianna said proudly. "Do you have any pets?"

"Nah, just a barn owl named Bainbridge," Grace replied. She stroked Luna's soft gray fur, having given up on trying to get rid of her. "My mom wouldn't let me get anything else because Scott's allergic to cats."

"I assume Scott is your brother…?"

"Correct. He's eight. Or something. I dunno; I don't really pay much attention to him."

Arianna laughed.

Grace coughed. "So do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No, I'm an only child." Arianna looked at the floor.

"Lucky…" Grace muttered. "Scott's _so_ annoying. Fortunately, Mom left him at home with our neighbors…"

"Hang on… you have an American accent. Why're you going to Hogwarts? Wouldn't you be going to the Salem Academy or something in the US?" Arianna queried.

"Oh, that… well, I didn't get my letter for the Salem Academy – as you know, American schools start a month earlier than British schools – so Mom made me and Scott pick up and move so that I could go here. I've only been here for a few weeks, so I haven't acquired a British accent yet," Grace explained.

"Ohh… wait, what about your dad? Did he stay in America?" Arianna asked.

Grace was silent for a moment. She looked at the ground and continued to pet Luna.

"He… my dad's dead," Grace said finally, in a barely-audible voice. "He was killed by You-Know-Who when I was really little."

Arianna nodded, immediately feeling incredibly stupid for bringing up such a delicate subject so casually. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like you could've helped it or anything," she said, forcing a cheerful grin onto her face.

There was an awkward silence.

"OKAY, HAPPY SUBJECT."

The two girls spent the rest of the night chatting, telling each other their opinions on just about everything, and protecting each other from the wrath of a cranky Luna.

"So…" Arianna said through a mouthful of potato chips. "We've told each other our life stories and we know just about everything about each other… does that make us 'best friends?'"

"One should think so," Grace replied, sipping her soda. "I never really had a 'best friend' back in New York. Tons of acquaintances, but never really had anyone to have pajama parties with or whatever."

"Yeah," Arianna agreed as she crunched loudly on her chips. She offered her fingertips to Luna, thinking she might like the taste of the salt. Luna bit them instead.

Grace grinned. "Best friends… I like the sound of that."

****

~*~

"If you ever wake me up like that again, I will personally… do something horrible to you," Arianna grumbled.

"I thought it was funny." Grace shrugged.

"Yeah, I bet you did. There's Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. Let's go." Arianna called over her shoulder, "Come on, Sirius, come on, Remus, we're gonna be miss the train if you don't hurry up!"

The two girls pushed their carts up to the barrier as the two older men followed.

"Would you like the honors?" Arianna offered.

"Sure."

There was a silence as Arianna, Sirius and Remus watched Grace. She did nothing.

"Uhm… what do I do?" She looked at Arianna with a completely lost expression pasted on her face.

"You run full-speed at the wall," Arianna told her.

Grace looked at her for a moment.

"I RUN INTO THE WALL?!" she screamed.

"Sshh!" Remus hissed, looking around at all the Muggles.

"I already do that all the time at home," Grace muttered.

"There's this special charm thingy on it that sort of transports you to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters," Sirius explained.

Grace looked at him skeptically.

"Look!" Remus said, his voice dripping with exasperation. He stepped forward and danced back and forth through the barrier, between Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters and the regular station.

"'Kay… here I go…"

Remus stepped out of the way as Grace drew a deep breath and raced toward the barrier. Arianna knew by the expression on her face that at the moment she was frightened of nothing more than slamming into the brick wall.

"My turn," Arianna murmured. She casually walked through the barrier, knowing that the bricks wouldn't be solid by the time her trolley touched them.

When she got through to the other side, she saw Grace leaning up against her cart, hyperventilating.

"That was the most horrible thing I've ever had to do, and I've had to babysit Scott before."

"Oh, please. You're overreacting."

"Am not," Grace pouted as the conductor began loading their bags onto the train.

Remus and Sirius appeared behind them.

"So, you two excited?" Remus asked.

"Yup," they replied simultaneously.

"You'll have lots of fun at Hogwarts," Sirius said. "I promise." He smiled.

"Hey, isn't that the guy killed twelve people with one curse?" Arianna heard someone whisper.

"No, it was thirteen," her friend whispered back.

"And they carried him off laughing…"

Arianna scowled, but said nothing.

"I heard he's an expert at Transfiguration and can transform himself into anything!"

"I heard that he once tried to hold the Minister of Magic hostage, but when Ministry officials showed up, he disappeared in a puff of smoke!"

"I heard…"

"Ari? Ari, are you okay there?"

Grace's voice drifted in between the others, snapping Arianna out of her reverie.

"Whaaa-? Oh, yes, I'm fine. Just… spaced out a little, that's all." She grinned.

"'Kay, 'cause the conductor just yelled that clichéd 'all aboard' thing, which means we probably should get on the train before it leaves without us," Grace said.

Arianna blinked and nodded. She noticed Remus had disappeared; she assumed he had already boarded the train.

"Bye, Sirius-'tousan," she whispered, hugging him. "I'll owl you as soon as I get there, okay?"

"Okay, have fun, learn lots."

Luckily for Arianna, Grace had no experience with Japanese whatsoever, so she didn't know that the "-'tousan" part of Sirius' nickname was a shortened form of the Japanese word for "father." Arianna wasn't yet ready to reveal to Grace that Remus and Sirius were her fathers.

The two girls boarded the train, with Luna following closely at their heels.

****

~*~

Grace yawned, kicking her feet up on the train's seats. "Remind me never to stay up 'til one in the morning on the night before school," she said, eyes drooping closed. Arianna grinned from her wolfishly curled position in her chair. She looked from the world outside her window to her friend. 

"You know I won't, and that next year we'll be up until two, right?" she asked, and Grace shrugged.

"Wake me up when we get to Hogwarts," she said, yawning and rolling over. The brunette rolled her eyes, standing.

"If you're going to sleep, then I'm going to search the train. Maybe I'll find Remus." Grace only nodded slightly, already half asleep. 

The corridor had pretty much settled down after the train had started to move. A plump, dimpled woman had stopped right in front of their compartment, and Arianna took out some of her "special savings" (money she had had left over from working at Karamin's after bills and taxes were paid) and bought two of everything (plus extras of all her favorites.)

__

Grace deserves the finest introduction to the magical world as possible, she thought, _and that involves chocolate. Mmm, and grass flavored beans. _

Popping a random Bertie Bott's bean in her mouth ("Yech! Why do I _always_ get sardine!?"), she started down the corridor. People were laughing and giggling, talking and bragging, and almost all were excited. The less excited were probably the later year students, who viewed this as another year in an almost-Azkaban with pluses. And free food.

Suddenly, the train jerked, and Arianna went tumbling forward, onto something warm and strong. She groaned, straddling it and pushing her head up. Underneath her was a tall, strong male in all-black Muggle-style clothes, looking coolly up at her with peculiar, familiar golden eyes. An almost snakelike pupil narrowed, adjusting to the change in light. Smooth, longish raven hair framed his face. Arianna gasped. 

Centered on his forehead was a black crescent moon. 

Hazel eyes were locked onto a black moon as golden eyes surveyed the female. He coughed quietly, and Arianna tore her eyes from the mark. She pushed herself up, grabbing his hands and pulling him up with her. He dusted himself off and turned to leave. 

"Hey," she said. She was sure that her voice would have quavered, but it sounded relatively steady. The boy stopped, but did not turn.

"Yeah?" he asked, almost boredly. His voice was deep and smooth, with an edge. 

Arianna bit her lip, then rethought her question. "What's your name, and year?" she asked, and the raven-headed male turned his head back to look at her again. His cold, serpentine eyes looked at her. They were mystifying, seemed to hold her in place. 

"Year two, Slytherin. I'm known by all as Venom." Arianna gasped near-audibly. _A tall, cloaked boy, six years old, glaring through the darkness, snake eyes narrowed and glowing through the night. Watching silently as a piercing scream tore through the air, golden eyes always calculating, always searching. _

The brunette gulped back the memory. "Arianna Black. Nice to meet you. I have the feeling we'll be meeting again sometime." And indeed, she did. Venom's flaxen eyes landed on her forehead, and then widened. Arianna couldn't help but smirk. "Sayonara," she said, turning and walking back to her compartment. She paused for a moment, swooping down and grabbing a necklace from the floor. It was a baby dragon claw clutching a blue jewel with a universe of swirling colors inside. Stuffing it into her top, search for Remus forgotten, she slipped back into her compartment, where Grace lay snoring on the floor.

Deciding not to awaken her friend from her slumber, she immersed herself in her sweets, switching back and forth periodically from the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans to the Chocolate Frogs. She was just about to begin munching on a Cockroach Cluster when a shrill cry pierced the air. Grace mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over, almost crushing Luna in the process, but remained asleep. Suddenly, a boy with slicked-back black hair and cold, bitter eyes of the same color burst in.

"GET BACK HERE, SHORTIE!"

Three tall boys, each carrying large sticks, raced past, giggling. They all had to be at least fifth-year students, judging by their appearances.

The boy collapsed, completely out of breath.

"Good, they're gone…" the boy muttered. He looked at the sleeping girl, then up at Arianna. He blinked once or twice, then stood and composed himself. He folded his arms across his front, curled his upper lip slightly and began in a snobbish tone, "Hello. Ignazio Vinceguerra, of the famous Vinceguerra family. I presume you've heard of me. And who might _you_ be?"

Arianna looked at him skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "Is it really any of your business who I might be?"

"Of course it is," Ignazio replied.

Arianna said nothing in response.

"All right, then," Ignazio continued. "Then who is that?" He looked at Grace condescendingly, nudging her with his foot. Before Arianna had time to make a witty comeback, Grace muttered something in her sleep and sank her teeth into his ankle. Ignazio let out a deafening, yet uncannily girly scream and began hopping on one foot as he nursed the other. Arianna was rendered helpless from laughter.

"This won't be the last time you see me," Ignazio muttered as he hopped out of the compartment.

"You're brilliance, Grace," Arianna squealed between laughs. "Even when you're asleep."

"Mrrrrh?" Grace mumbled, stirring. "What'd I miss?"

"Too much, dear. Too much."

Grace sat up and rubbed her eyes. Luna chewed thoughtfully on one of Grace's shoelaces.

"Bean?" Arianna offered, holding out the box of jellybeans.

Grace reached forward and selected a bean at random from the box. She examined it.

"…It's green," she deduced. She looked up at Arianna with the bean in her hand.

"No shit, Sherlock," Arianna replied. "Eat it; I guarantee you'll love it."

Grace unsurely popped the bean in her mouth. She chewed it slowly, then finally swallowed it.

"Gimmay more," she demanded. She tore the box out of Arianna's hand and began rooting through it for more green jellybeans. "What flavor was that anyway?"

"Grass," Arianna said in a casual tone as she crunched loudly on a Cockroach Cluster.

Grace blinked a few times and stared at the six or seven beans in her hand.

"…Grass?" she repeated, looking back up at her friend.

"Grass," Arianna confirmed.

She looked back at the beans in her hand. She studied them for a moment before shrugging and popping them all in her mouth at once.

"Mmm. Grass."

There was a knock on the frame of the door to the compartment. A boy who looked about a year or two older than them stood there, looking rather amused. He was tall, with dark brown hair and eyes to match. Two of his buddies stood behind him, looking rather vexed.

"Hi, there," he said, looking from Grace, to Luna, then to Arianna.

Grace dropped the box of Every Flavor Beans. Jellybeans scattered across the floor. Luna scampered after a bright red one, but no one seemed to notice.

"Can we help you?" Arianna asked, raising an eyebrow as she tossed the last of her Cockroach Cluster into her mouth.

"Yeah, um, you see," the boy began. "The witch who sells the candy… she's out of Chocolate Frogs, and I have a craving for them. Could I borrow a few?"

"Ah… sure." Arianna tossed him two or three.

"Thanks." He grinned at Arianna, then looked at Grace, who was staring at him open-mouthed. "Uh… is she okay?"

"Yeah." Arianna threw her wadded-up Cockroach Cluster wrapper at Grace. It hit her in the head, but she didn't move. "She's fine."

"Okay…"

"Bryan?" said one of his lackeys.

"Yeah?" He craned his head around to face his friend.

"I thought you didn't like junk food."

"…Your point?"

He pointed to the Chocolate Frogs in Bryan's hand. Bryan blinked and looked at the candy.

"…Chocolate Frogs are junk food?"

"Yeah, Bry. They are."

He was silent for a moment. Then he shrugged and looked back at Arianna and Grace.

"Thanks again. I'll see you guys around!" He turned and left, tossing the cardboard containers to himself. His buddies followed him.

Arianna smiled to herself as Grace hopped up and peered around the corner to watch Bryan's retreating back.

"I think our Gracie has a _crush_," Arianna teased.

"Hush, you."

Arianna smiled again and shook her head to herself.

__

¤~End Second Chapter~¤  
Aha. And so ends Scrat-chan's chapter. Today, all we have to entertain you are responses to our reviews on the first chapter. Yes.

**__**

Ara-chan's Responses  
Micro-Chick: Eee! Our first reviewer! *glomps* All that confusing stuffish shall be revealed in time if you keep reading. ^^ And, technically, a wolf _is_ a dog, but I see what you mean. She loves both of her fathers, but she spends most of her home time with Remus, who is a werewolf. And I-- *cough* _Arianna_ loves wolves anyway. ^^ Thanks for the review!  
**J. Juncle: **O.o That's the first time I've ever heard you call me "Ara," Bobby, dear… Yes, well, the "s word" is rather lovely, is it not? And you can kind of _tell_ that it has to do with Harry Potter, as it is in the "Harry Potter" section. -_- Great to know you like it more than English class, Bobby-bab-- *realizes something* YOU DIDN'T FREAK OUT WHEN YOU FOUND OUT IT WAS SLASH! *proud sniffle* My baby Bob's all grown up…  
**Kyree: **^-^ Arigatou gozaimasu, Kyree-san. *ego inflates* I thought I did a crap job on chappie one. Scrat's chapter was much better than mine. Thankies for the review!  
**Tempral Bouncer: ***shudders* H/G, dear? I haven't been into that in ages. Het stuff gets boring after a while. *sneezes* Yesh, you are a hypocritical baka, but we love you anyway, Ani. YOU WILL WORK ON TIME'S EDGE AND GET MORE OUT SOON, OR I SIC MY JAPANESE-SINGING KILLER CHIBIS WITH BEATING STICKS AFTER YOU! MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!

**__**

Scrat-chan's Responses  
**Micro-Chick:** You're wrong! You're wrong! Ron and Hermione _forever_! *cough* Sorry, I'm a bit protective of that shipping. Um… oh, yesh, Thankies for revieeeewing.  
**J. Jucle:** …No comment. ._. Hey, I happen to enjoy English class…  
**Kyree:** Yes, I know I'm a genius. ^_^;; Erm… I lub you.  
**Tempral Bouncer:** Do you know how hard it is to write responses without repeating much that Ara already said? *drums fingers on desk while pondering something intelligent to say besides "thanks for reviewing"* Aah, screw it.


	3. Wait For the Dawn

**Child of Night**

****

        Author's Notes: *sings* Shinjite… la la  la la  la la… *grin* Ah, Ara's writing again. *cackles evilly* Ooooh, note: lack of sleep is bad for Ara. Another note: All the stuffish we write is based on what we choose to happen after book four, as we are not psychic and able to figure out what Ms. Rowling will write.

        Disclaimer: One Ara to rule them all… One Ara to find them… One Ara to bring them all… AND A SPOON OF DOOM MUWAHAHAHAHA *cough* We own nothing that other people own. *nods*

**Child of Night  
_And__ the Sword of Souls  
By Ara Moon and Jesse's Peanut Butter Princess  
_****-Chapter Three-  
Wait For the Dawn**

        "Are we there yet?"

        "No."

        "Are we there yet?"

        "No, Ace, no we are not there yet."

        "…"

        "What?"

        "So, are we there yet?"

        Arianna yawned as a voice from outside the compartment screamed and stomped off. She could hear the smooth, gentle voice of the other male yell, "Hey, wait up! You never answered me!" before Remus opened their compartment door. She looked up at him tiredly, while Grace shot up.

        "Arianna, why is your dad's friend on the train?!" she asked, and Arianna blinked a few times before raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you know? Remus is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts starting this year. Well, restarting. He taught a few years back, but--" she coughed, "—due to certain circumstances, he had to quit."

        Remus smiled at Grace. The blonde sat down. "Why doesn't anyone tell me these things!?" she asked, and Arianna shrugged, looking for her robes. Grace started to do the same. 

        "I dunno… Maybe because you're--" The train suddenly jerked to a stop, and Grace's robes flew into her best friend's face. Arianna sputtered and glared. Grace laughed. 

        "You deserve it," she said, grabbing the robes and pulling them on. Arianna raised an eyebrow at her friend, staring at her. Grace looked herself up and down.

        "What?" she questioned, searching for some little speck of Chocolate Frog still hopping or some other imperfection in her outfit. 

"Grace, my dear, you are wearing a yellow tanktop and jeans under black robes. What _are you thinking?" Grace rolled her eyes, scowling. _

        "Hush, Goth Girl," she retorted, and Arianna grinned a little at this response. She got it a lot. True, in the Muggle world, baggy black pants and a tight black and ruby shirt might give that idea, but in the Wizarding world, those colors were favored. 

        The hazel-eyed brunette broke into song. "So I'm a little left of center, So I'm a little out of tune, Some say I'm paranormal, So I just bend their spoon…" It was Grace's turn to raise her eyebrow. Remus sighed, knowing how long his daughter would go on for, picked up his bag, and hurried out of the train. 

        The duo filed out of the Express, Arianna still singing. Grace sighed. "Okay, you can stop now," she grumbled. Several people were staring at her. Arianna just grinned and slung an arm around Grace's shoulders. Her hazel eyes clearly said, _Not__ a chance on your life._

        A large, burly man with a thick beard was standing in front of the group. "Firs' years this way," he called cheerily, and the two followed him through the group of chattering students. Arianna was still belting out lyrics like there was no tomorrow as they slipped into the boats. 

        Around the third or fourth time, Grace pretty much had the lyrics down. She joined in, and eventually, the two others in the boat, a blonde male and a blood-red headed female, joined in as well. 

        "Who wants to be ordinary, In a crazy, mixed-up world, I don't care what they're sayin', As long as I'm your girl…" The passengers of the other boats were staring at them, but they didn't seem to care. 

        The quartet quieted down when they caught their first glimpse of the castle, though. Arianna had never seen anything like it; her family was considerably poor, so they hadn't gone on too many trips, let alone to sprawling castles like this. Grace looked absolutely amazed. "DUDE…" she breathed, astonished, and Arianna could only nod, gulping. 

        Both females looked at each other, brown eyes and hazel eyes locking. A grin spread across their faces simultaneously. "This is _so gonna kick ass!" they squealed together. _

        Meanwhile, the other two in the boat had stopped paddling, still staring in amazement. Arianna started poking the blonde behind her, while Grace waved a hand in front of the redhead's face. "Yoo-hoooo," Grace called. Arianna started poking the guy in the nose. 

        "Dude…" she said, and Grace looked at her. "What?" she asked, still waving a hand in front of the now-attentive redhead, whose emerald eyes were glaring at it. "This guy has a cool nose!" Arianna explained, poking it wildly, an almost-rabid look on her face. Grace grinned at her friend. 

        "Please stop poking my nose, Hunn," the blonde said, smiling, and Arianna complied. "Sure, Babes," she replied, patting him on the head. He didn't seem fazed in the least. 

All the other boats were a distance ahead of them. The redhead sighed. "My first day at Hogwarts, and I'm late getting to the school. Why meeee?" Arianna looked at Grace. "You think that, if we paddle harder, we'll catch up with them?" Grace shrugged. 

As they put their paddles in the water, Arianna said, "Err, Red, you have your paddle on the wrong side…" Said redhead turned around, glaring. "I would put it the other way, but I only have one frelling hand!" She pulled back her sleeve and, truth be told, she only had one hand. Arianna shuddered. 

"Sorry, sorry…" Arianna pushed her paddle down in an arc, attempting to move the boat forward. She hit something solid and gulped. A large tentacle shot out of the water. 

"Eee!" Three of the four kids shot to one side of the boat in fear. Now, one thing you should know: tiny boats are made to only balance the tiniest of weight differences. Three eleven-year-olds are anything but tiny. 

Arianna sputtered as she broke the surface. "Oh, THIS is fun…" she muttered as Grace surfaced beside her. She was pulling up the redhead with the help of the male blonde when suddenly, she shrieked. "Why is there a bloody tentacle around my waist?!" she yelled, and Arianna blinked. 

"I have nooooooooo clue," she said, as another appendage wrapped around her. It gently placed her back in the boat, along with her other boatmates. "Cool…" the blonde male said, "This must be the giant squid that kid at the orphanage was talking about!"

The brunette grabbed one tentacle, turned it sucker-side-up, and wrote in the palm of its hand with her finger, _Thanks. _

Ink shot to the surface of the water, forming words. **_No problem ;-), it read, and Arianna blinked. Then the tentacles went to the front of the boat and started dragging them towards their new classmates. _**

As soon as they hit shore after going under the cliff, the burly man said, "So, fell off yer boat, didja?" Arianna glared at him, shaking her soaked sleeves. Grace pulled a piece of seaweed from her ear, nodding. 

"Yes, we did, sir. The squid pulled us out." The man grinned at her. 

"Call me Hagrid," he said, and the group nodded. Hagrid turned away, calling to the rest of the students, "Follow me!" Together the first years trekked up the stairs. Hagrid knocked three times when they reached the door. 

There were several gasps and, "Oooooooh, preeeeeeeeeetty,"s when the doors opened. Some people, liked Arianna, stopped to stare around the room. Others, like Grace, had different responses. 

"Wheeeee!" Grace squealed, spinning around in circles, arms outstretched. Beside her, Ignazio was bragging about how "the Vinceguerra manor is three times as large, and classier, too." The blonde spun closer and faster. The water-soaked weighted sleeves smacked right into the raven-haired male's face, causing him to fall over, sputtering.

Grace spun back towards Arianna. "Good show, my dear, good show," the hazel-eyed girl said with a heavy false British accent, applauding. Grace bowed, grinning. 

The students fell silent as a stern, tight-faced woman gracefully stalked into the woman. Her movements reminded Arianna of a cat, and a cat you should never cross, at that. Unless, of course, you were looking to be severely scratched. 

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said to the woman as she eyed Arianna and Grace's robes disdainfully. "Thank you, Hagrid," she said offhandedly before gesturing to all the soggy children to come to her. They obliged. 

"Honestly, can't you first year children stay dry just _one year?" she said, and Arianna was unsure if it was to them or herself. _

The ebony-haired woman pulled out her wand and muttered a spell. They soon found themselves dry as they were earlier. Arianna felt something heavy in the back of her robe, and calmly lifted it. Out fell a small creature that seemed to consist of a sac and a spout. 

Simultaneously, Arianna and Hagrid said, "A Lobalug!" The brunette blinked and looked up at the tall man. "You're interested in magical creatures?" Hagrid grinned down at her. 

"'Aye. And I presume you are, too?" Arianna nodded. Hagrid beamed. "Then you can look forward to your third year," he said, before waving at Professor McGonagall and marching from the building. Grace blinked, looking at Arianna. 

"A Loba-_who?" she asked, and her friend rolled her eyes. _

"A Loba_lug. You know, the sea creature with the poison sack and the spout?" Immediately, Grace stepped away. "Merfolk use Lobalugs as weapons sometimes." Her blonde friend made a long "Ooooh" sound. Then she blinked. _

"Dude, the wizarding world has Merpeople? I thought that was just mythology…" Arianna raised an eyebrow at her. Then she patted her on the head. 

"You have much to learn, my dear."

Professor McGonagall made a loud noise in her throat. They immediately silenced. "Thank you. Now follow me." She led them through the entrance hall to a small chamber beside what Arianna deduced to be the Great Hall, where her father would be waiting for the feast and sorting. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall began in an almost tired tone. It sounded as if she had done this so many times she had it down by heart.

"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room." A shock of fear shot through her as she, like many other students, instinctively moved closer to her best friend. What if she and Grace ended up in opposite houses, and she ended up with a jerk like Ignazio? She shuddered at the thought.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." Arianna watched as several Muggle-borns seemed to be taking notes mentally. Ignazio was trying to look as bored and arrogant as possible. He was examining his nails, leaning against the wall. Arianna grinned, muttering a few choice words Sirius taught her, waved her wand, and Ignazio slipped to the floor with a "THUNK."

Professor McGonagall glared as Ignazio's two minions grabbed him by the arms, trying to pull him up. Unfortunately for everyone's least favorite greaseball, they had their knees on his stomach to lever themselves. "MY ARMS! YOU ARE STRETCHING MY ARMS!" he shrieked, and the lackeys let go. Ignazio clanked against the floor before sliding around like a wet bar of soap in a shower. 

All the first years howled with laughter as the two numb-brained boys chased around their screaming leader. Professor McGonagall looked horrifed. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she yelled over the laughter, and Ignazio floated above the students. Her hand hidden behind Grace, Arianna quickly reversed the spell, and pocketed her wand. 

After thoroughly checking Ignazio, she let him back down, looking around suspiciously. "Where was I? Ah, yes, well, you will be sorted into one of these four houses, whichever one fits you the best. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will become a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all attempt to smarten yourselves as much as you can while you wait. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." And in a billow of cloak, she turned and left the chamber.

Grace gulped. "How do they decide which house we're in?" Arianna grinned, a secret flashing in her eyes. In a quiet, high, chillingly freaky voice, she said, "I'll never tell…" Her friend blinked. 

"So what is it?" Arianna shrugged. "Nothing big, don't worry. You'll see." Suddenly, something hard fell down and hit Arianna on the head. She bent over. 

"Raining umbrellas? In this weather?" she asked as more showered down around her. People around her shrieked and screamed, ducking for cover in the small, empty room. An evil cackle resounded in the room as a short, dark-eyed, cross-legged poltergeist flew into the room. 

Arianna, the only one still standing, gave a half-grin. "Err, hi?" she said, waving gently. The floating man grinned, cackling. 

"Oooh, Ickle Firsties, all gathered in one place before the sorting? What fun!" And so he dumped all the umbrellas on her. She caught one, twirled it around her wrist, and used it to deflect the rest.

"Peeves," Professor McGonagall scolded, "go away. Torment them later. You'll have seven years to." Catching sight of the other ghosts and grinning evilly, Peeves soared off. Professor McGonagall sighed. 

"Form a line," she said, "and follow me." They complied, Arianna falling in behind Grace and in front of a pale boy. Professor McGonagall led them into the Great Hall, lining them up in front of the teachers' table. Grace was staring at the ceiling, and Arianna jabbed her in the ribs with her finger. 

"It's not the real sky, Grasser, dear," she said, and Grace looked at her. "It's an enchantment."

Grace blinked. "Grasser? Where'd _that one come from?" _

Arianna reached over and grabbed a green bean from the blonde's hair. "This," she replied, facing forward again. Grace shrugged and popped it in her mouth. 

Professor McGonagall silent brought out a four-legged stool and a ragged hat, placing it in front of the first years. Everyone in the hall quieted as they stared at it, either in excitement, anxiety, or boredom. Arianna did, too, until it twitched. A rip in the brim opened wide like a mouth, and burst into song:

_"A thousand years ago or more__   
When I was newly sewn,   
There lived four wizards of renown,   
__Whose names are still well known:   
__Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,   
__Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,   
__Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,   
__Shrewd Slytherin, from fen,   
__They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,   
__They hatched a daring plan   
__To educate young sorcerers   
__Thus Hogwarts School began.   
__Now each of these four founders   
__Formed__ their own house, for each   
__Did value different virtues   
__In the ones they had to teach.   
__By Gryffindor, the bravest were   
__Prized__ far beyond the rest;   
__For Ravenclaw, the cleverest   
__Would always be the best;   
__For Hufflepuff, hard workers were   
__Most worthy of admission;   
__And power-hungry Slytherin   
__Loved those of great ambition.   
__While still alive they did divide   
__Their__ favorites from the throng,   
__Yet how to pick the worthy ones   
__When they were dead and gone?   
__'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,   
__He whipped me off his head   
__The__ founders put some brains in me   
__So I could choose instead!   
__Now slip me snug about your ears,   
__I've never yet been wrong,   
__I'll have a look inside your mind   
__And__ tell where you belong!"_

Everyone in the hall burst into applause. The hat bowed to each table, and then became rather still again. Professor McGonagall stepped up, holding a large roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." Looking at the list, she called out, "Abrosia, Lynn," and so the Sorting began. 

Grace was watching Lynn as she put the hat on. It made several thinking sounds. "Hmm… Good mind, a want to learn… Ooh, a very hard worker, and loyal, too… Hufflepuff!" 

"So all we have to do is put on the hat, let it look through our mind, and bam! our house is chosen?" Grace asked, and Arianna nodded, offhandedly.  

"Bijan, Astra," had taken most of her attention. She was a tall, slim girl, and was quite attractive. But what caught her attention was the familiar color of her hair, like mineral gold, with the star-silver streaks on the front parts that framed her face to her chin. The rest of her hair was cut short, but it glowed against her pale flesh. Arianna noticed that the girl had two small fangs in front, much like she had. 

Unique hazel eyes locked with even more peculiar deep gold eyes. Transfixed, Arianna noted that they looked like powdered gold, ground from the purest of the metal. From under the hat, Astra inspected Arianna coolly, powdered gold freezing as they came across the mark on her forehead. 

"Plentiful bravery, and a thirst for justice… Let's go with GRYFFINDOR!" Arianna applauded with the rest, but she was still entranced by Astra. 

A smile slowly crept into the other girl's calm face. She shot a grin at Arianna, indiscernible to anyone but them. As she turned to head to the Gryffindor table, the brunette caught sight of a black crescent mark on the back of her neck, barely protruding from her robes. 

The hall soon quieted, and "Bijan, Zero" stepped up. She heard a gasp, but she couldn't tell if it was Grace or her. 

Have you ever seen a guy or a girl, and you or your friend comment that he/she is "so totally hot?" Well, Zero was not just hot. If you could only use three words to describe him, they would have been, "heavenly, breathtakingly radiant." And even that might not have been enough to describe him. 

Zero's skin was equally as pale as his sister's, but it was more opaque and enticing. He was tall and lean, with long limbs. Hair as silver as a reflected moon fell gently over thin shoulders, framing powdered silver eyes. Strands of gold, like his sister's, contrasted beautifully with the rest of his sensuous hair, scattered evenly through his hair. 

To sum it up, Zero Bijan was a work of art, appearing as fragile as porcelain and as beautiful as night. 

Arianna noticed that several students looked like they might faint, and that one Hufflepuff girl already had. Beside her, Grace was staring, mouth wide open. Arianna's reaction was very similar. 

Moving smoothly across the hall, almost as if he were water and the room was a lake, he seated himself of the stool and placed the hat on his head. It seemed that it was having a difficult time making a decision. After two minutes (in which many girls, Arianna included, had recovered), the Hat called out, almost weakly, "Slytherin."

The whole hall erupted in applause, even Gryffindor, who apparently had forgotten their rivalry with the other house in the midst of his beauty. 

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "Black, Arianna." The whole hall fell into a silence, before breaking into loud whisperings. 

"Black? As in, the murderer, Sirius Black?"

"How did he have a child while he was locked up in Azkaban? I mean, he only got out a few years ago…"

"Why would Dumbledore allow the daughter of a convict in his school?"

"I bet she's just like him! A murderer! We'd better watch our backs around her…"

Grace looked at Arianna questioningly, and Arianna gulped. "I'll explain later," she said. Her blonde friend grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze of reassurance. "Good luck!"

Arianna tried to ignore all the eyes on her as she walked through the Great Hall. _I should have known__ that my last name would cause problems… Honestly, I should have had them write "Arianna Lupin" on the adoption papers…_

The brunette stole a glance at the Head Table. A greasy-haired man was glaring at her suspiciously. She looked down the table more. An old, white-haired man was smiling slightly, powder blue eyes twinkling. Two places down, Remus was grinning ear-to-ear, looking excited. This, surprisingly, reassured Arianna, rather than making her even more nervous. As she sat down on the stool, she looked towards the window.

A shaggy black dog was leaning in. 

Arianna grinned. 

Pulling the Sorting Hat on, Arianna waited. 

A small voice was in her head almost immediately. "Exquisite mind, great loyalty--" mentally, Arianna groaned. _Not Hufflepuff, please, not Hufflepuff…_

The voice chuckled. "Don't worry, you aren't quite hardworking and honest enough for Hufflepuff." The brunette huffed, but said nothing. 

"Ambition to grow to full potential--" The voice in her head, which had been lying dormant for quite a while, piped in, **_Slytherin_****_ sounds good to me!___**

Arianna glared mentally, something she did often. _Well, it does not sound good to me. The Sorting Hat blinked. "Err, well--" It probed deeper, until it finally reached the doors which Arianna always tried to keep tightly locked up. The girl heard the hall break into whispers as the hat gasped. _

"G-great magically ability, oh, goodness, definitely one of the most powerful students I've ever seen… A strong will, and power, oh, so much power… A thirst for proving and justifying yourself… And enough courage to do so… Tough, very tough…" _How about Ravenclaw, then? Arianna asked, and the voice roared back in, angrily._

**_Slytherin_****_ is the best! Why would you want to be in a pansy house like that?_**

_What are __you talking about? Slytherin puts out the most dark wizards out of them all! _

**_Which is why we should be in it._******

Silence. 

_…I still think Slytherin sucks. _

**_That's fine and dandy for you, but _****I'm _the one running this show!_**

_No you aren't! I'm the one with control of the body! Hah-HA! To prove her point, Arianna made her hand move. The voice fumed. _

**_You little--!_**

"QUIET!" the Hat roared, and Arianna and her mental voice silenced. "YOU ARE IN GRYFFINDOR! AND FOR THE RECORD, _I'M RUNNING THIS SHOW, SO __NYEH!" The Sorting Hat stuck out its fabric tongue. Arianna took it off, muttering. ****__That stupid little piece of… piece of… PIECE OF CLOTH! How dare he?! _

_Hey, I ain't happy 'bout it, either. But at least he didn't stick us in Hufflepuff… The voice, which Arianna saw mentally as a duplicate of herself, shuddered. _

As Arianna placed the hat down, she noticed that the hall was in a stunned silence. Even the Headmaster looked shocked. Arianna grinned sheepishly, and waved. "Err, hi?"

That seemed to wake people up. They applauded loudly as the brunette took a seat at the Gryffindor table beside Bryan. "Cassidy, Kevin!" Professor McGonagall called, and the Sorting moved again. 

"Cassidy, Kevin," a pale, homely boy, tripped on his way to the Gryffindor table (after the hat gave up trying to sort him), with the hat still on his head. "Darcy, David," went to Hufflepuff after a good minute of mind-searching, while "Dorgan, Artemis," the redhead from the boat, went straight to Slytherin after the hat barely grazed her hair. 

Grace was looking more and more nervous by the minute. "Johnson, Megan," too went to the quickly-filling Hufflepuff table. Arianna grinned as she realized how different Hogwarts must have been to the students like Grace, who had grown up in a Muggle environment. The eleven-year-old had gone to a Muggle elementary school, after all. All the classes were pretty much even, and changed every year. Here was so different…

        Arianna applauded as a cute, short male named "Hudson, Brian" became a Ravenclaw. "Lawrence, Aislinn" went over to Slytherin, and "Martins, October," a lithe, purple-haired girl with reddish catlike eyes became a Ravenclaw. Grace gulped as her name was called.

The brunette watched anxiously as Grace slid the hat onto her head. "Hrm…" the voice said, and Grace jumped in her seat. Arianna grinned, silently praying for Grace to get Gryffindor. 

"A beautiful mind, always hungry for knowledge… Witty, and intelligent, too…" Arianna stifled a groan. _Looks like Ravenclaw for our Gracie… The Sorting Hat looked across the hall with its fabric eyes, and winked. Arianna blinked. _

"Ah, yes, the potential for greatness, as well as a thirst for proving yourself… Better make it…" Arianna, as well as her friend, held their breaths. 

"GRYFFINDOR!" Arianna applauded loudly in surprise, and yelled out, "Go Grasser!" The blonde shot a glare at the hat before taking her seat next to Arianna, stealing a quick glance at Bryan. 

"I thought for sure I'd become a Ravenclaw. I was kind of hoping I'd be one, too," she whispered, letting out a breath. Her hazel-eyed friend nodded. "I was hoping to be a Ravenclaw, too," she admitted, "but the Sorting Hat apparently dislikes us."

Several more students became Slytherins. "Paskins, Angelika" became a Ravenclaw, and "Ross, Evan" became a Slytherin. 

The next first year to be sorted caught Arianna's attention. He had long, black hair, tied together at the nape of his neck with a gold band. He had beautiful, deep blue eyes, and ever-so-slightly tanned skin. All in all, he reminded her of someone… But who?

She looked to the Head Table, hoping to catch Remus' eye. He was watching him as well, and the brunette realized just who he reminded her of: He looked like a younger, Azkaban-free Sirius. 

"Brilliant mind, willing to go far and wide to learn… Courageous, and friendly… GRYFFINDOR!" Arianna applauded loudly as the boy took a seat across from her, blushing brightly. He looked at her, and she winked. Arianna could have sworn he went even redder, if that was possible.  

Soon, there were only three students standing up, waiting to be sorted. Ignazio stepped up, and the duo prayed simultaneously that he would not end up in their house. 

As Ignazio went to put the hat on his head, it exclaimed, "Wait a second! I am _not touching something that has __that much hair grease on!" Arianna snickered. Ignazio sighed, holding the Hat right above his head._

Before long, the Hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW!" Grace and Arianna looked at each other. "This is cruel and unusual," the blonde said, and her best friend nodded. 

"Ain't it tha truth, brotha, ain't it tha truth…" she said in a fake accent, that sounded like a mix of New York, Italian, and several others. Grace blinked. 

"Don't ever do that again," she said, looking back to the Sorting. Arianna shrugged. 

"'Kay."

The next to be sorted, "Young, Ace," was the blonde male from the boat. The hat had barely touched his head when it bellowed, "Gryffindor, for sure!" He took the seat next to Shawn, across from Grace. 

Finally, only one more student needed to be sorted. "Zamulino, Fea," a homely, short girl, stepped up to the hat. The hat was silent for a while, before finally saying, "Hufflepuff!" The hall clapped while the Sorting Hat finally fell silent. Professor McGonagall came out and took the hat and stool away. 

Albus Dumbledore stood, his arms open wide, beaming as if seeing all his students at the beginning of the year was the best thing in the world. 

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin this delicious feast, I'd like to say a few words. They are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

        "Thank you." Arianna applauded loudly, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "Beautiful, just beautiful!" she called out, grinning. Dumbledore smiled at her, eyes twinkling mischievously. The greasy-haired teacher glared at her, and Remus rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. 

        The entire hall started applauding and cheering as food appeared on the tables. Grace looked amazed at how much food there was. Arianna looked around, and she and Ace yelled simultaneously, "ARE THOSE CALIFORNIA ROLLS?!" They pounced hungrily on the Japanese food. 

        Grace grinned lopsidedly at them. Munching on tortellini, she asked, "So… what's your sexual orientation?" Shawn gave her a weird look. "I mean… what're your parents, blood-wise?" 

        Ace gave her a questioning look. Arianna had to fight off a squeal of, "KAWAII!" by stuffing steak into her mouth. "Umm… Sexual orientation, and then family blood?"

        Grace shrugged. "Ah, tomato, tamatoe."

The blonde male smiled cutely. "I'm gay, and pureblood." Grace looked at him, and blinked. Arianna reached across the table, patting him on the shoulder. "Err, she was joking, dear," she said, and he tilted his head to one side. 

"Ahh…" he said, then shrugged. Arianna grinned at him. "You are too kawaii for your own good, Ace," she said, and Ace grinned back.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Ara-chan," he replied. 

"Sugoi! You speak Japanese, too?"

"Hai!" And so, the two engaged in a conversation completely in the foreign language. 

Grace ignored them, turning to Shawn. "Et toi?" she asked. Shawn blushed.

"Ah, I'm a Muggle-born. And for the records, I'm bi," he said, and Grace nodded. 

"I'm half-and-half," she said. "Dad was a wizard, Mum's a Muggle. You-Know-Who killed 'im when I was young, so I grew up in the Muggle world." She watched as Arianna turned Kevin Cassidy's goblet into a killer chibi of herself. 

 "I guess we have a lot to learn," she said, sighing. The chibi latched onto Kevin's face as he ran around the hall, screaming. Shawn sighed, too. "I guess we do."

A loud commotion was heard at the Head Table. The four turned, searching for the cause of it. 

Apparently, Kevin had tripped over Professor Flitwick and knocked open a door. Out from the door had come a vicious gray-brown cat, which had attacked the greasy-haired professor's head. Arianna paled slightly. Grace tugged at her sleeve. "Is that _Luna?!"_

The black-irised professor stood, screaming. "Get this filthy creature off me!" he roared, and many students began to howl with laughter. Remus' flaxen eyes were twinkling with mirth. She could see that Dumbledore's were, too. 

Luna scampered off his greasy head to his forearm, tearing at the sleeve. Arianna watched him adopt a horrified look. Several other teachers did as well.

As the cat moved, she left long, thin red scratches. The professor reached into his robes, pulling out his wand and glaring at the cat. He raised it, ready to mutter a curse. Arianna stood quickly. 

"There's no need to do that, Professor," she said quickly, and he looked at her angrily. Arianna rushed to the front of the hall. Luna moved from the professor to Dumbledore, who was sitting calmly as the cat settled on his hat. 

"Luna!" Arianna scolded, attempting to scoop the feline up. She dug her nails stubbornly into Dumbledore's hat. Arianna tugged harder. "Luna…" she said warningly.

Arianna looked around, eyes locking on Professor McGonagall's plate. She grabbed a piece of cheese, waving it in front of Luna's face. 

"Loooooook into the cheeeeeeeeese…" she said, waving it hypnotically. The cat obliged. "Look at the cheese… Love the cheese… OBEY THE CHEESE!" And with that, Arianna threw the cheese across the Hall towards the Gryffindor table. As Luna bent over to consume the yellow substance, Grace swooped down and held her tight.

The hall burst into applause. Arianna bowed, taking her seat again. Luna was purring contentedly in Ace's lap as they dug into the desserts. Finally, all the food disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, and Professor Dumbledore stood again. 

"Well, now that our stomachs are full and our mouths worn, there are a few start-of-term announcements to make.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students. As most of you know, there are many dark creatures and beasts that I am sure you do not wish to deal with. 

"This year, Quidditch is open to _all students." Almost every student who knew what Quidditch was broke into cheers. Arianna was the loudest. _

"Quidditch trials shall be held the last Friday of the month. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"My apologies to all couples who frequent the abandoned room on the third floor of the Astronomy tower. It is currently being reconstructed, but will be usable within the month. I suggest that in the meanwhile you do not use Mr. Filch's office as your—" he coughed, "—new nighttime hangout.

"It is my suggestion that you stay away from the bathrooms near the entrance. Apparently, someone thought it would be rather--" his eyes twinkled, "—amusing to play a prank involving a giant cockroach and seven hundred rolls of toilet paper to start off the term." A first year whom had been left back named Emily Troise ran into the Hall screaming. Toilet paper was hanging from her arms. She managed to get partially in before she tripped over her sandals and fell face first to the floor.

Dumbledore wasn't fazed in the slightest. "This year, we shall begin a new course that will alternate with your Quidditch lessons; Medical Magic. Madam Pomfrey shall be teaching it, and we hope that you will enjoy being able to heal yourself for a change.

"And now a moment of silence for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher of last year, Professor Sven Twitchura, who met his demise by a lawnmower and a can of soup." The Hall fell silent, until someone snorted. Arianna burst out laughing, which caused almost everyone else to in turn. 

"In his place, we have convinced Professor Lupin to return to his place as teacher. We hope you will welcome him with open minds and less abuse than the previous professor.

"And now, let us sing the school song!" Several students groaned. The teachers were trying their best to hold on their now-fake smiles. 

"Everyone pick a tune, and here we go!" A long blue ribbon shot from Dumbledore's wand, forming words: 

_"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, _

_Teach us something, please, _

_Whether we be old and bald _

_Or young with scabby knees, _

_Our heads could do with filling _

_With some interesting stuff, _

_For now they're bare and full of air, _

_Dead flies and bits of fluff, _

_So teach us things worth knowing, _

_Bring back what we've forgot, _

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest, _

_And learn until our brains all rot…"_

        Everyone ended at different times. Grace, Arianna, Ace, Shawn, and several other American students sang in tune with the National Anthem. Dumbledore smiled at his pupils. 

        "Ah, music… A greater magic than all we can teach you! And now off to bed you scat!" The groups complied, following the prefects to their houses. All the way up the long staircases, Grace (as well as several other Muggle-borns) pointed to random portraits and stairs, squealing with excitement. 

        "Wild!" Grace exclaimed, prodding at one of the paintings. "If I poke this guy, he pokes back!"

Finally, Arianna had had enough. To all the students, she yelled, "WHY MUST YOU BE SO PURPLE?!" Grace poked her on the nose. 

        "Ravioli makes the world go round." She reached into her pocket and shoved a ravioli in Arianna's mouth. "Make happy. MAKE HAPPY!"

        Arianna blinked and munched on the ravioli. Shawn stared at her. Arianna stared back. 

        Suddenly she burst out, "HAPPY MONKEY! HAPPY MONKEY!" She grabbed Shawn and started dancing. Then she pushed him backwards. "DON'T HURT THE MONKEH!"

        Ace helped the blinking Shawn up. "Won' hurt tha monkeh…" he muttered, and Arianna smiled innocently. She patted them on the head. 

        "Good Billy," she said, and skipped up ahead. Ace grinned, and followed after them. "Funny girl, isn't she?" he asked, looking at Shawn. The black-haired preteen nodded distractedly. 

        "Yeah…" he said quietly. "Funny girl… And a helluva pretty one, too…" 

~*~

        "You."

        "You."

        "You."

        "YOU, DAMMIT!"

        "I SAID YOU, YOU PRISSY LITTLE--"

        Grace blinked as she walked into the first-year girl's dorm. "What's up?" she asked, gulping down a Sprite. Immediately the two girls who had previously been fighting smiled widely, putting down their weapons of choice. 

        "Nothing, Grace. It's just--"

        Julia Spiegal, a prefect, spoke from her position near the entrance of the room. Her shapely body, barely clothed in all tight black leather, was leaned casually in the door frame. "—that we're two beds short, and these two won't give up their beds," she said dully, taking a long drag from her cigarette.

        Arianna strolled in, throwing a lighter to Julia. "Here," she said, tossing herself onto a bed, opening a Japanese comic book titled "Love Hina." 

        "Thanks, kid," she said, and Arianna shrugged. 

"So what's goin' on?"

The prefect tossed her old cigarette down towards the boy hallway. Kevin Cassidy ran screaming down to the corridor, body aflame. She shrugged and lit a new one. 

"We're two beds short, so two of you lucky ladies have to volunteer to room with the guys." Arianna grinned. 

"Gracie and I'll do it," she said, pulling herself up. Grace blinked. 

"We will?" 

Arianna grabbed her. "Yup."

Grace nodded, blinking. "Ah." She shrugged. "Didn't know that."

The boys were already setting up their posters and decorations. Arianna waltzed in, followed by Grace, and threw herself on a bed, reopening Love Hina. Bryan and Ace stopped what they were doing. 

"…" Arianna rolled over onto her back, glaring at the two males. 

"What?"

"…Any particular reason as to why you're in here?" 

"Two beds short in girl dorms, two extra beds in boy dorms, you do the math," she said simply, and Bryan blinked cutely.

"Ah… So you're going to drag these beds into the next room?"

The other three in the room blinked. "Err, no, Bryan," Grace said. "We're rooming with you." Bryan nodded, "ah-ing." He smiled at her. The blonde promptly dropped all her bags. Arianna groaned. 

"Oh, for the love of moose, Grace--!" Just then, Shawn burst in. He blinked once. Twice. Thrice. 

Arianna laughed insanely. "Ha ha, you blinked thrice. Is that even a word?" Shawn blinked again. 

"Aww, damn, now you ruined it. What do you call four blinks, Grasser?" Grace shrugged. 

Julia walked in. "All settled?" As Shawn was about to say something, she cut him off. "Good. Now go to sleep. Classes start tomorrow. I'm gonna go off and do… something." She tossed her cigarette to the floor, walking out with the same dull expression. The group watched it smolder.

"…You aren't getting that bed."

"Yes I am… Ah, what was your name again?"

"Shawn Russell. Don't you pay attention to anything?"

"Arianna Black. Of course I do. I can't help that I have better things to think about than your name."

A loud battle of wits and words erupted between the two. Bryan blinked. "Wait… Black? As in, Sirius Black? Escaped Convict Black? Only one to escape from Azkaban Bla--"

Arianna glared. "Yes, that Black." Everyone quieted quickly. 

"Dude, your dad's a murderer?" Grace asked gently.

Calmly, Arianna replied, "Nope," and went back to reading. Everyone was silent for a moment. Then, Shawn yelled, "HEY, WAIT A SECOND! THAT'S _MY BED!"_

Arianna grinned. Tossing herself back exaggeratedly, she said, "Nope." 

"Is that all you can say?"

"Nope."

"Then say something else."

"Nope."

"…"

"Nope."

"…Shut up."

"Nope." 

"ARGH!" 

Grace rolled her eyes and chucked a pillow at the brunette. Arianna grinned and tossed it at Shawn. The raven-haired male smacked it towards Ace, who ducked and grabbed it. "Thanks," he said, laying down on the pillow on the bed opposite of Arianna's in the circular room. Grace pouted. 

"That is MY pillow, Ace Young."

"Too bad," he mumbled, closing his eyes. Arianna rolled her eyes, grabbing his pillow and tossing it to Grace. She grinned and curled up on her bed. "Thanks."

Arianna shrugged. "Hey, Bryan, got a spare pair of boxers?"

He nodded, handing her a pair of gold and red striped underwear. Arianna started pulling off her pants. Shawn blushed so red he got a nosebleed.

"Oh, puhlease, Russell, don't tell me you blush like Potter."

Immediately, everyone shot up, staring at her. 

"You know Harry Potter?!" Grace asked, startled. Arianna slipped into the boxers and pulled off her top. Shawn looked away, blushing. 

"Mm-hmm," she said nonchalantly, grabbing one of Ace's button-down shirts. "What's the big deal?"

"WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?!" Shawn yelled, disbelieving. "HE'S HARRY POTTER! HE DEFEATED YOU-KNOW-WHO! HOW CAN YOU SAY IT'S NO BIG DEAL?!" Arianna shrugged.

"I could care less about him. He's just an average teen, although he _is a tad nerdish. So what if defeated the Dark Lord? He's just Harry Potter. An average-looking boy with an average name and a not-so-average list of achievements." She shrugged, lying down on her bed. _

"He's one of the most powerful wizards ever! He defeated You-Know-Who just last year! Thanks to him, we're rid of one of the greatest evils ever!"

"…Not defeated, Shawn. He _locked away Voldemort." Everyone cringed. "There's still the chance that--" Ace glared a warning, "—__You-Know-Who could return, should anyone unlock his soul."_

"Who could do that?" Bryan asked, laying down on his bed. "No one except Dumbledore is stronger than Harry Potter now that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone." Arianna rolled her eyes. 

Mentally, she said, _I could name at least one person who could, and would, too. She shrugged. Out loud, she said, "You don't know the guy. Anyway, the point is, Harry Potter blushes like a tomato, much like our dear Shawn here. Discussion closed." Ace nodded, yawning._

"Yeah, we need sleep, anyway," he said, pulling the covers up over him. Shawn fell into the bed between Ace and Arianna, and Bryan was already drifting off on the bed between to Ace and Grace.

"Oyasumi nasai, minna-san," Arianna yawned, standing up. Ace looked at her tiredly. 

"What're you doing, Ari-chan?"

"Ari-kun," she corrected, stretching. "Ari-chan sounds weird."

Ace rolled his eyes. "Ari-_kun, where are you going?"_

"For a little tour," she said simply. "G'night, all." Grace was already out. Bryan waved goodbye, and Ace just rolled over. Shawn watched her leave.

~*~

_Ah, nothing like a nighttime stroll in the fall, Arianna thought, stretching. She walked out the front doors of the castle into the night. _

        A small black cat ran up beside her. She picked it up, petting it as she walked to the lake. The rhythmic purring soothed her new-school fears. 

        She didn't look up as someone approached her. She did note, however, how they tried to keep their footsteps hidden. It sounded heavy, like a male, yet light. The cat looked over her shoulder, and leapt towards the intruder. Arianna continued to look into the water. 

        "Hello, Venom," she said quietly, still gazing into the water. "Lovely night for a stroll, isn't it?"

        Venom looked surprised. "How did you know it was me?" he asked, sitting down next to her. She shrugged, stretching and gazing up at the moon.

        "I dunno. I've always had enhanced senses. Or do you not remember?" she asked, looking him over through the corner of her eyes. He looked straight at her. 

        "Of course I do. I was wondering if you remembered _me," he asked, and Arianna nodded. _

        "Deep in my mind I did." Arianna said, fiddling with her hair. The black cat rubbed against her leg, purring, and she petted it subconsciously. A smile flitted through Venom's eyes. 

        "Her name's Kagami," he said, and Arianna froze for a second. The cat looked up at her with flashing gold eyes. She nuzzled it with her nose. 

        "She's cute," she said. An awkward silence fell. Arianna lay backwards on the grass, staring into the night sky.

        "They're beautiful," she said quietly. "I used to think that the stars were tears, and every night, they'd disappear and with the sun, the sky would be happy again." Arianna smiled at the memory. "I was so stupid as a kid. But they are beautiful, though, don't you think?" 

         Venom nodded, but didn't look up. "Yeah… beautiful…" Arianna stood. 

        "Well, classes start tomorrow," she said, stretching. Venom nodded. The brunette smiled, and hazel eyes locked with gold. "I'll see you around, 'kay?" She skipped over, kissed him on the cheek, and began back to her dorm. 

        _That girl is something else, he thought, falling back into the shadows. His raised his hand, resting it on the place where Arianna's lips had just been. _

~*~

        Arianna sneaked back into the common room. Luna jumped on her head as soon as se entered, scaring her. "LUMINA P. WINKLETON!" she whispered loudly, "Don't do that!"

        She walked towards the fire, rubbing her hands together. The night had gotten chilly, and she didn't really care why the fire was still roaring. As long as she was warm…

        "Welcome back, Arianna," a voice said, and she squealed, turning. Shawn blinked from his chair. 

        "Calm down, it's just me," he said, and she relaxed. "Where'd ya go?" 

        "For a walk," she said, sitting down in front of the fire. "Why'd you stay up? Worried about me?" she said slyly. Shawn looked down, blushing.

        "N-no!" he said, face matching the flames. "I-I just wanted to be sure you didn't lose house points on the first night!" he said quickly. Arianna rolled her eyes. She stood. The raven-haired male went to follow, but tripped. Arianna laughed, extending a hand. 

        "Here," she said, pulling him up. He went crashing into her, pinning her to a wall. Shawn stared at Arianna. Arianna stared back. 

        "Grace would laugh for days if she saw us like this," Arianna whispered, grinning. Shawn blushed as her hot breath hit his cold face, but he never looked away from her eyes. 

        Arianna leaned forward until their noses touched, then gracefully pushed herself back. She smiled innocently, arms locked behind her. "Thanks for worrying, Shawn," she said, and skipped off to their room. 

        "Sleep tight," she said. As she disappeared, Shawn stared after her. Then he fell back into one of the crimson chairs of the common room. He groaned.

        _There's a first for everything… But can't the first ever__ be easy?_

~*~

        FINISHED AT LAST! Twenty pages, 7,797 words. ^^ I love this fic. It's fun fun fun. ^^ Now, Ara ramble:

1) GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I was looking through the Narfketeer's 

settings, and it was set to "DO NOT ACCEPT ANONYMOUS REVIEWS!" That was evil, so gomen all who tried to review. 

2) We have a fanart contest. ^^ It's on the BakaNeko Kouhai

Board (http://bakaneko.unixdaemons.com/oekaki_menu/index.html; click "Kouhai.") If you can oekaki, go there and enter. ^^ You basically have to draw one of the characters (Arianna, Ace, Shawn, Bryan, Grace, Ignazio…) I'm gonna create a site with fanart for this fic and another, so if anyone has fanart, please, PLEASE send it to me. I'll love you forever. ^^; 

        3) I HAVE A NEW COMPUTER *applause* so things will get out quicker. ^^

        Ah, I think that's all I have to ramble about. Now, Review Response-osity: 
    
    **J. Jucle: **
    
    Ara-chan: O.o My Bobby scares me…
    
    Scrat-chan: *bursts out laughing* "Storie"? NOW who's the one not paying attention in school...
    
    **Silverclaw****:**

Scrat-chan: We've already got several very insane and weird people in ze storeh... But shankies for ze offer. Mreeeeeeh. ^_^

Ara-chan: ^^ Wheeeeee! *bangs head against wall too*

Scrat: o_O 

Ara-chan: Head Banging is fuuuuun. ^^

Scrat-chan: I can tell.

**Tempral**** Bouncer:**

Scrat-chan: H/G tends to go hand-in-hand with my favorite ship, R/Hr, but I'm against pairing Harry with anyone except Cho, because ... *babbles about why pairing Harry sucks* Besides -- Harry's an idiot.

Ara-chan: *sweatdrop* Can't disagree with the last part. But Harry and Cho? *shudder* I've always seen Harry as one to go for one a bit more… masculine… *evil grin*

Scrat-chan: O.o;;;

Well, the next chappie should be out soon. Only one more thing to say:

**REVIEW, MINNA!**

| | D

| | O

| | W

| | N

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	4. Hide Beside Me

Child of Night  
_And the Sword of Souls  
_By Ara Moon and Jesse's Peanut Butter Princess  
**-Chapter Four-  
Hide Beside Me**

Arianna woke up the next morning to the smell of something strangely fish-oriented. She blinked a few times before sitting up to find Luna sitting at the end of her bed, with several large dead fish surrounding her. Luna meowed proudly, awaiting her owner's praise.

"Luna…" Arianna moaned. She yawned. "How many times have I told you not to bring me dead fish this early in the morning?"

Luna mewed in response.

"Quiet, you." She felt around on her bedside table for her wand and, once she located it, pointed it at the dead fish. "Wing-wing-wingardium leviosa," she said, stifling a yawn. The dead fish floated up into the air, following the path her wand was pointing them in, and onto Shawn's sleeping body. "Good night, Lumina," she murmured as she cut off the spell and placed her wand back on the table. She rolled over in attempts to go back to sleep, but fell out of the bed. "Ow."

"What was that?" someone asked incoherently, obviously having been woken up by the loud THUMP of Arianna's body making contact with the floor.

"Nothing, Grace," Arianna murmured. "Go back to sleep."

"Ravioli makes the world go round…" she muttered. Then a loud snore filled the room, signaling that she had indeed gone back to sleep.

Unfortunately for Arianna, the smell was keeping her wide awake, so all hope for more sleep was lost. Reluctantly, she pulled herself into a standing position. Luna cocked her head and gave her owner an annoyingly _cute_ meow.

"Oh, stop," Arianna growled, throwing a textbook at her cat, who jumped out of the way in the nick of time and scurried away. The book hit the floor with a loud SLAP. Naturally, this resulted in waking several people up – namely Ace and Bryan.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Ace shouted.

"Where's the fire?"

Arianna shot Ace a glare and stormed out of the dorm, slamming the door behind her. There was a silence.

"PMS?" Bryan guessed finally.

"Your guess is as good as mine," replied Ace, shrugging. The two rose from their beds and began changing into their school clothes and their robes. When they were both properly clothed, Ace began prodding the sleeping Shawn, while Bryan tried to wake up the remaining female.

"Mrrrhhggh," Grace groaned, pulling the blankets over her head.

"Rise and shine," Bryan called.

"Nng," she replied from beneath the covers, curling into an even tighter ball.

"If you don't get up in the next five seconds, I'm going to turn you into a marmoset," he threatened.

"Nnnnnngmh," she responded, but she removed the quilt and sat up groggily, stretching and yawning. A moment later, Shawn shouted, "WHY ARE THERE FISH ALL OVER MY BED?!"

Arianna sat at the Gryffindor table, munching contently on a strip of bacon while going over her class list. First off, Transfiguration. _That should be easy enough,_ Arianna murmured to herself. Second, Potions with the Ravenclaws. Then Defense Against the Dark Arts. Arianna smiled.

Grace stumbled in and sat next to Arianna.

"Morning, my grassy friend. Sleep well?"

"Bryan tried to turn me into a marmoset."

"You have interesting dreams," observed Arianna through a mouthful of sausage.

"That wasn't a dream," replied Grace.

Arianna blinked and looked at Bryan, who was laughing with his second-year friends from the train.

"Well, you certainly are making friends quickly," Arianna commented.

"Speaking of friends," Grace began, as she slathered massive amounts of butter on her toast and took a bite. "Shawn _loved_ the surprise you left him."

"Oh, good." Arianna grinned.

The two quickly finished their breakfast, then scurried off to Transfiguration, because Grace wanted to be early, in order to give Professor McGonagall a good (but false) first impression.

"What are you two doing here so early?" Professor McGonagall asked, as she set her quill down. "Class doesn't start for twenty minutes!"

"Yes, ma'am, but we just wanted to be early, so we could get a few pointers before our first class starts," Grace said in her best teacher's-pet voice. Arianna nodded.

"Well, I do love students who are interested in what they are learning," Professor McGonagall began. "But I'm not expecting you to really transfigure anything for several weeks. But thank you anyway, girls. Now off with you; I have paperwork to do." She sounded stern, but there was no denying the tiny smile she was striving to hide. She motioned for them to leave, the sleeves of her robes billowing magnificently.

"Yes, ma'am," Arianna said quietly, hanging her head. She and Grace slowly walked out of the room, but the second the door was safely shut, the two girls dropped their suck-up manner and breathed a sigh of relief.

"For a second there I thought she was actually going to _teach_ us something…" Grace muttered.

"Well, the important thing is, she thinks we're good students. Now what do you say we go explore a bit?"

"Oooh… I was interested in poking around near the Ravenclaw common room," Grace mused.

"Sounds fun to me."

And off they went. But naturally, they got lost.

"Um… Ari?"

"Hn?"

"Where are we?"

"Damned if I know. We should probably turn around if we want to get to Transfiguration in time," Arianna replied.

The two spun 180 degrees, but the corridor didn't look familiar at all. It seemed as though they were in a completely different place than before. At first, the corridor was bright and shiny and well-lit with torches. But now, all the torches seemed to have disappeared. Puddles littered the ground, and cobwebs decorated the walls.

"Oh boy…" whispered Grace.

"Um… I think I know what to do." Arianna whipped her wand out of her pocket and placed it flat in her palm. "Point Me," she told the wand. It instantly spun around exactly once and pointed her down the corridor they had just come from.

"What in the name of Merlin are you _doing_?" Grace asked.

"You'll see. Light your wand."

"Uh… okay…" She rummaged around in her pocket and produced a book of matches.

"No, no. LIGHT it. Say '_lumos_.'"

"Ohh." Grace nodded and put the matches away. She held her wand out in front of her and cleared her throat, making a big show out of her magic. "_Lumos_," she announced. A tiny light appeared at the end of her wand, flickered, then died.

"Good _job_, Grass," Arianna said sarcastically. "Try again; I don't want to bump into anything unpleasant."

"_LUMOS_," Grace shouted. The tiny light reappeared, wavered once, but stayed dimly lit.

"Good. Let's go now."

They hadn't gotten much further when the bell rang.

"So much for our first impression," Arianna commented as the wand whirled around twice and then stopping to point them left.

Suddenly, Arianna heard footsteps around the corner.

"Oh, good, we're saved!" Grace cried.

"Unless it's-"

Filch appeared around the corner. Arianna sighed.

"Turn off your wand," she whispered.

"What are you two doing down here?!" Filch demanded.

"We got lost," Grace said quickly. Indeed, they had.

"Come with me, you two. Detention."

Both their jaws dropped. Detention? On their first day? For being late?! The two girls glanced at each other in disbelief before reluctantly trudging along behind the caretaker to his office, knowing what fate awaited them.

Filch took a seat behind desk and took out two slips of parchment and a quill. He dipped it in black ink and looked at Arianna.

"What's your name, girl?" he demanded parsimoniously.

Arianna opened her mouth and was about to reply, "Arianna Black," but she was struck with a brilliant idea. She grinned arrogantly.

"Ignazio Vinceguerra, sir," she told him.

Filch grunted his acknowledgement and was about to begin scribbling away at the detention slip, but something about that name struck him as odd. He paused and looked up at Arianna.

"…Isn't that a boy's name?" Filch asked, the quill poised over the top of the paper.

"Oh, it goes both ways," Arianna explained, in an I-know-everything tone. "In fact, my aunt and my grandfather are both named Ignazio as well. It's a family name."

There was a silence as Filch pondered this. He glanced at Grace. Grace, who had no idea what Arianna was doing, simply nodded, as if to confirm whatever Arianna was aiming for.

"But wait…" Filch continued.

Arianna sighed as she would imagine an exasperated Ignazio to do.

"…But Dumbledore told me that the Vinceguerra kid got into Ravenclaw." He jabbed at the Gryffindor crest that adorned Arianna's robes. "Why're you wearing Gryffindor robes?" he asked gruffly.

"Oh, that," she said calmly. She smirked and continued casually, "I beat up some Gryffindor chick and stole her robes."

Filch's eyes widened, and a vein began throbbing in his forehead from anger. He pulled out a thick stack of even more detention slips and began hastily filling them out, one by one.

"_Name_… Ignazio Vinceguerra… _Crime_… tardiness…" He set that one aside and began scribbling away at the next. "_Name_… Ignazio Vinceguerra… _Crime_… attacking another student…" Arianna could tell Filch's handwriting was becoming more and more untidy as he furiously scrawled away. She grinned smugly. "_Name_… Ignazio Vinceguerra… _Crime_… theft…"

Filch was about to begin in on a new slip when three seventh year boys streaked past, laughing and shouting things like, "COME AND GET US, FILCHY!"

Filch growled and slammed the quill down on his desk. Ink dripped out of the tip and stained the wood, but he didn't seem to care. He stood up and dashed out of his office.

"GET BACK HERE, McNULL!" he shouted, chasing after them. Grace's punishment seemed to have completely slipped Filch's mind.

"Come on," Arianna said, wandering out of Filch's office. "Let's head back to McGonagall's room. Maybe we can still enjoy what's left of our first lesson."

Grace nodded silently and followed, still trying to contemplate what had just happened.

They both entered the Transfiguration as quietly as possible, even though the class was noisily trying to change their matches into needles. Naturally, however, Professor McGonagall noticed them.

"Miss Black, Miss McCartney, where have you been?" she demanded before the girls could even reach their seats.

"Uh… we…" Grace stammered blankly.

"Sorry, Professor," Arianna said smoothly. "We were just wandering along, minding our own business, when Mr. Filch decided he hated us." It wasn't really a lie… it was just leaving out most of the truth, a truth that needn't be told at the moment.

Professor McGonagall looked at Grace, who nodded again. The elderly woman sighed.

"Well, Mr. Filch has been getting upset rather easily lately," Professor McGonagall agreed. "I'll let it go this one time, girls, but never again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," the girls replied in unison.

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow and examined their innocent faces, trying to decide whether or not their response was sarcastic or not, but finally handed them each a match and told them to begin trying to transform the matches into needles. Then she wandered off to give the other Gryffindors some pointers.

"Wow… we sure are lucky," Grace murmured as she sat down next to Arianna.

"To get past both Filch _and_ McGonagall detention-free? You have no idea," Arianna agreed. She twirled her wand between her fingers like a baton, then pointed it at her match. She mumbled a few words under her breath. The match quivered, began to steam, then turned a shiny gray color, but retained the general shape of the matchstick. Arianna looked over at her friend to see how she was progressing. Grace was furiously whacking the matchstick with her wand, muttering in frustration, "STUPID… MATCH…" Whack. Whack. "TURN… INTO… A FREAKIN'… _NEEDLE!_" Whack.

Not wanting to interfere, Arianna looked away and glanced around at the other first year students' progress. Shawn was leaning back in his chair, fingering his wand apathetically. A silver needle lay on his desk, with no sign of a matchstick anywhere. The remainder of the class was desperately flicking their wand at their matches. Arianna pointed her wand at the desk in front of Shawn's and muttered a few choice words. A moment later, Kevin Cassidy ran screaming out of the room, followed by a large killer chibi wielding a mallet.

Arianna smiled to herself and turned to her friend, who was now sobbing with frustration, about to break her wand over her knee.

"Do you want some help, Grasser-chan?"

"YES," Grace wailed.

Arianna had Grace repeat the spell over and over until she had pronounced it correctly. Grace took a deep breath and jabbed her wand at the matchstick. A moment later, the match turn into a needle, but remained the light brown color that the wood of the match had been.

"Squee!" Grace cried happily.

"All right, class, leave your matchsticks on your desk and I'll give you your grades on Thursday," Professor McGonagall announced. "You are dismissed."

"_Squee!_" Grace cried again, even more enthusiastically. She and Arianna grabbed their books and left the room.

"That was amusing," Arianna commented as Kevin raced by, still being pursued by the homicidal chibi.

"I don't like Transfiguration," Grace muttered.

"You think Transfiguration is bad?" Arianna laughed hollowly. "Wait till you see Potions. My dad told me that Professor Snape is some bad news."

Grace blinked uncertainly as the two stepped into the Potions classroom. There was no teacher at the front. Arianna shivered uncontrollably, despite her thick robes. The two took a seat in the very back.

Several other Gryffindor students filed in uncomfortably, followed by several Ravenclaws, who didn't seem nearly as uneasy.

As soon as everyone was seated (minus Kevin Cassidy, who ran into the middle of the room, did a circle around the teacher's cauldron, and ran back out, screaming all the while), the door banged open and the teacher strode out.

He was tall, with greasy black hair and cold black eyes on either side of a big hooked nose. He wore extensive black robes, and had long, bony fingers that barely poked out of the sleeves. He stood at the front and gazed at his pupils with his icy black stare. There was a long silence that made all the Gryffindors even more uncomfortable. Even the Ravenclaws shifted nervously in their seats. Finally, the teacher spoke.

"There will be no silly wand-waving or incantations in this class," he began. "I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

"Does anyone else get the feeling that he gives the same speech every year?" Grace whispered to Arianna.

Professor Snape, hearing voices, turned towards Arianna and Grace. A disturbingly evil smile crossed his face as he moved swiftly toward the two girls.

"Ah, Miss Black, Miss McCartney," he said in a dangerously soft voice. "Talking in class… ten points from Gryffindor." He smirked. Arianna glared at him, but he didn't seem to notice. He whirled around and continued, addressing the entire class, "Now, who can tell me what is the only known remedy for monthly werewolf transformations?" He turned back around and faced Arianna. He gave her another smirk. "Miss Black?"

"Wolfsbane Potion," Arianna said calmly.

"And?" he prompted.

"It changes the drinker into a harmless wolf instead of a dangerous werewolf at the full moon," she answered, pretending to be examining her fingernails.

Professor Snape did not seem pleased that she answered correctly. He paused for a moment, trying to come up with a more difficult question.

"What is the main ingredient in a Stuttering Potion?"

__

A what? Arianna wondered.

****

A Stuttering Potion, you idiot!

__

If you're so smart, then what's the answer?

****

I dunno.

Arianna rolled her eyes and looked up at her professor, who was watching her intently with one eyebrow raised.

"Well?"

"I don't know, sir."

Professor Snape sneered. "Clearly."

The rest of the class did not go well. Some Ravenclaw accidentally spilt the boiling contents of his cauldron on his neighbor, who had to be whisked away to the hospital wing to receive treatment for numerous second-degree burns. Then Professor Snape proceeded to take forty more points away from Gryffindor when Kevin Cassidy ran in again, still being pursued by the crazed chibi. When Arianna tried to save Kevin, she only succeeded in turning Professor Snape into a chibi – a rather kawaii one, which scared pretty much the whole class.

Finally, Professor Snape got so fed up with the whole class that he demanded Arianna change him back, and then he dismissed them and disappeared into the back room.

They had a whole forty-five minutes left until lunch, and after that, another half hour until their next class. Grace wanted to go up to the common room and relax, but Arianna wanted to continue exploring.

"Aw, but Ari, I wanna read my book!" Grace whined.

"All right, then. You can stay in the common room; I'll wander around on my own, okay?"

Grace replied, "Okay. Will you come get me when it's time for lunch? I lose track of time when I get absorbed in my reading."

"Okay, I'll come get you then, if you promise not to bite me," Arianna consented.

Grace smiled and pranced off to the Gryffindor common room. Arianna turned and walked off in the other direction, marveling at the beauty of the castle as she went.

She passed the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, which was guarded by a large painting, similar to that of the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, except instead of The Fat Lady, the painting guarding the Ravenclaw common room was of a knight on a horse. The knight introduced himself as Sir Cadogan. Reminded too much of Grace by Sir Cadogan, Arianna continued walking without stopping to make much conversation.

A few moments later, Arianna found herself outside, wandering around just outside the Quidditch pitch. She sighed happily to herself as she looked up at the bright, blue sky and inhaled the crisp, clear air. She stopped and stood still, simply taking in her surroundings, listening to the Hufflepuffs practicing Quidditch. She heard footsteps coming toward her, so she looked up.

It was Shawn, with his nose stuck in a book, reading as he walked. Arianna tried not to laugh aloud as she detected a slight hint of the smell of fish.

"Hey, Sh-" she began, but before she could get the full sentence out, his hand shot out at a 45-degree angle above his head and grasped something. "…What the…?"

The Hufflepuff Seeker, who also happened to be the captain, flew over. He said angrily, "Can we please have that back?"

"Huh?" Shawn looked up from his book, a book that looked like something a Quidditch fan would read. It was entitled, _Choosing Your Chasers_. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." The Seeker flew closer and held out his palm, still looking annoyed. Shawn handed the boy a round golden ball, with delicate lacy metal wings – the Golden Snitch. Shawn had caught the Snitch without even looking up…!

Arianna was dumbfounded. Not even her stupid godbrother could do that.

"Sorry about that," Shawn apologized again as the Seeker flew off, re-releasing the Snitch. He looked up at Arianna and said breathlessly, "Hi there."

Arianna fumbled for the right words for a moment, then finally blurted, "How did you _do_ that?!"

He shrugged honestly.

"I don't know," he said. "I just… can."

Arianna looked at the cover of his book. "You like Quidditch, I take it."

"A lot," he confirmed, nodding. "I love it. I want to play for England when I'm older."

"You and the rest of the world, dear," Arianna murmured.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just muttering."

Shawn raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more about it. "I want to try out for Seeker for the Gryffindor team," he continued.

"With me as your rival?" Arianna laughed aloud. "You'll be nothing more than the equipment manager," she said challengingly.

A flame sparked in Shawn's eyes, sensing competition. "Is that a challenge?"

"Hell yeah!"

"You're going _down_, Fish Girl."

"Oh, I am, am I?" she shot back, grinning.

"Damn straight, you are!"

"Well, we'll find out next week at the Quidditch tryouts, won't we?"

"I'll try not to embarrass you too badly," Shawn said arrogantly.

There was a long pause as the two regarded each other for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Their competing was friendly; they both knew that.

"So…" Shawn began, once they could breathe again. "What did you think of the Potions teacher? Pretty weird, if I do say so myself."

"Yeah. Greasy-haired,-big-nosed Potions teachers should not be so kawaii when chibi-fied," Arianna said.

"…Yes," Shawn agreed, having no idea what "kawaii" meant. Arianna laughed, knowing he was clueless. Grace often used the same tone when oblivious. Obviously wanting to change the subject to something that wouldn't require the use of Japanese words, he continued, "Transfiguration was fun, though."

"It was for those of us who are REALLY GOOD at it, and for those of us who were actually _there_ for more than ten minutes," Arianna replied, raising both eyebrows and smirking.

"Where _were_ you two, anyway?" he asked.

"We got lost," she replied. "And then Filch found us."

"Poor you," Shawn murmured. "I heard Filch was relentless."

"He is, but he's not the brightest of fellows." Arianna giggled, imagining the look on Ignazio's face when he received the detentions Filch had written up.

There was a silence for a brief time in which Shawn sat against a tree, burying himself in the book again. Arianna busied herself by watching a butterfly flutter from leaf to leaf. She glared at it as if to say, _It's fall, you moron, die already. _The butterfly seemed to wink at her. The brunette shuddered and turned away. Butterflies should _not_ wink.

Arianna yawned, resting her head in Shawn's lap. The raven-haired male froze. "_What are you doing?_" he hissed, blushing. Arianna grinned tiredly. 

"Awww, c'mon, Babes, it's been a _terribly_ difficult morning," she said with a mock dramatic swoon. He tried to stay angry, but ended up laughing. Arianna joined in. 

"So, Shawn, my dear, how do we waste the rest of our free time?" Shawn looked down at her, raising an eyebrow, still grinning. 

"Well," he replied, swooping up his book, "_I_ plan on finishing this book." The girl in his lap rolled her eyes and snatched it back. 

"What is with you, Grace, and the books? Honestly, people, you'll have seven years of them! Live for a moment! Become an illegal Animagus, set Kevin Cassidy's hair on fire, wander the school after hours, dance in the middle of Charms, just for Merlin's sake, LIVE!" He rolled his eyes. 

"Okay, look, I'm living, I'm living! Now gimme my book…" She tucked it in her robes, and he groaned. 

"_Real_ nice, Black," he said sarcastically. He stood up. "Fine. Ya know what? I'll live for ya. Oh, I'll live." He grinned evilly, and Arianna raised an eyebrow.

Shawn cleared his throat dramatically, standing stiffly in front of Arianna. She watched him from her seat on the ground. Suddenly he went into a crazy dance, complete with turns and erratic moving. 

__

"It happens every time when I see you 

It happens every time when I think of you 

It happens every time 

Oh it's magic when we meet 

Baby down on Dream Street…" Shawn grinned as he stopped. Arianna applauded. 

"Bravo, my dear, bra-_vo!_" she exclaimed, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye. "Never knew you had a thing for… what was their name?... Dean's Sheet… Reamed Wheat… Ugh, one of 'em."

Shawn raised an eyebrow, sitting down. "You mean Dream Street?"

Arianna nodded. "Yeah, those people. The one with the tall hair is funny. I want to light his head on fire." Shawn blinked. 

"You need more sleep, Arianna," he said as they sat back down. She nodded, mumbling about a lighter, a couch, and a chibified Severus Snape.

Shawn sat staring at the sky as Arianna curled up in his lap again. He squinted, then shot up, sending Arianna tumbling unceremoniously to the grass. "Phobos! Deimos!"

Two black ravens flew over, landing on Shawn's arms. Arianna glared, rubbing her arm. "What was _that _about, Russell?" she asked. Her eyes softened as she watched Shawn pet and coo at the beautiful ravens. 

"These are my pets. Mum thought that owls were a bit odd, so I have ravens. Pretty, aren't they?" Arianna nodded, putting out her finger. Deimos hopped to her finger, and she petted it gently. 

"Phobos and Deimos… The moons of Mars?" she asked.

Shawn nodded. "Yeah. According to Greek mythology, they were the sons of Ares. Phobos was the god of panic and flight, and Deimos was the god of fear and dread." Arianna grinned as the raven hopped onto her shoulder, nipping at her hair. 

"Cheerful," she commented sarcastically. 

"Yeah, I know, but they're still beautiful. Right, girls?" he asked, and the birds flew back to him, perching on his shoulders. 

Hazel eyes watched him play with his pets. "You seem to like birds," she said.

The raven-haired male nodded, eliciting a soft cooing noise from the ravens. "I do. If I were an Animagus, I'd love to be a raven or a hawk. What could be better than shedding the weight that keeps us tied to this earth and soaring away? Imagine, eyes so sharp you could see a rat from miles up. It'd be great." 

Arianna leaned back, hands locked behind her head, yawning. "Being a bird sounds good, but I'd rather be a wolf." Shawn raised an eyebrow. 

"Why?" 

The brunette grinned wolfishly. "Well, while enhanced eyesight would be a wonder, wolves have sharp hearing and ears, and their eyesight isn't half bad." She let out a dreamy sigh. "Pure muscle tight under layers of fur, dashing through the woods at full speed, howling out to the full moon… Hawk's can't howl, can't swim, can't run like their world depends on it, can they? Sure, soaring would be great, but I favor the earth, not the sky." Shawn pondered this for a minute.

"Wouldn't being a wolf Animagus be kind of like being a… werewolf?"

Arianna shrugged. "Kind of. Werewolves can spread the lycanthropy, however, and can't transform at will." Shawn shuddered. 

"Why would you want to be like… _those_ _things_?" he asked. Hazel eyes narrowed into a glare. 

"'_Those things_' are normal witches and wizards like us who have a _disease_. It's like condemning someone for having cancer."

"But cancer doesn't put others in danger of being infected or killed, now does it?"

Arianna shot up to her feet. "Do you think that werewolves asked to be contaminated, Shawn?" 

"No, but--"

"You're bisexual, aren't you?" Shawn's eyes narrowed as he stood. 

"Yeah, so?"

"How would you feel if you couldn't get a good job because you like guys, too? How would you feel if you had to be marked by the Ministry, if everything you did was watched, if you were excluded from certain rights that you would have had _had you not been bisexual_, Shawn? You think homosexuals and bisexuals have it bad with all the homophobics? Then imagine how a werewolf might feel. There are many people who accept bisexuals. However, there are only a handful that aren't lycanthrophobic."

Shawn opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He glared and stomped off back towards the school, book and ravens forgotten. Arianna slid back to the ground. Deimos made a cooing noise. The brunette sighed. 

A while had passed before she heard footsteps crunch up behind her. Arianna braced herself, expecting Shawn to return. "Come on, Ari, it's lunchtime," Remus said softly, offering her his hand. She grabbed it and hoisted herself up. 

They walked in an awkward silence before Remus coughed gently. "I, uh, heard what you said." Arianna set her face. 

"Thanks," he said, pulling her into a light hug. Arianna wrapped one arm around him and returned it halfheartedly. 

"Hey, don't worry," he said, smiling and releasing her. "Shawn'll get over it. Peter did." His face dropped slightly. Arianna shot him a questioning look. 

"Err, when my friends found out about my, ah, _problem_," he began, "Peter didn't quite take it well. Sirius cornered him and _lectured_ him—" Arianna grinned. A "lecture" from her father usually included several vulgarities and quite a bit of yelling. The brunette chuckled.

"I bet he squeaked like the rat he is," she said, and Remus grinned. 

"Quite true." They had reached the doors. "Well, I already ate. I'll see you in your next class then, hmm?" Arianna nodded. 

"See ya!"

Arianna took her time going inside, still marveling at the beauty of the castle, but once inside, she dashed to class, excited about seeing her father teaching. She took a seat in the front, not noticing that the seat next to her was empty. The bell rang.

"Good afternoon, class," said Remus as he stood at the front, surveying his students. He lingered on Arianna and giving her a grin. "I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. My name is Professor Lupin. The rumors are true – I have taught here before, but due to… circumstances, I had to leave. But now I'm back." He grinned again, looking around the classroom at his eager pupils.

"Today we're going to start with--" he began, but the door banging open loudly cut him off. A familiar looking eleven-year-old Gryffindor girl staggered in, short of breath. She stumbled to her seat next to Arianna, but passed out before she could sit down.

Remus looked at Arianna with one eyebrow raised.

"I, uh… she was reading during the lunch break, and I forgot to go get her before class," Arianna admitted. "I suppose she ran all the way here."

Her father shook his head and began prodding at the limp girl, attempting to awaken her. After a few attempts, he gave up and continued teaching. He stood back at the front of the room.

"As I was saying… today we're going to work with a Foe Glass. A Foe Glass is a very useful object when you're afraid someone is stalking you, or otherwise. Who can tell me what a Foe Glass does?"

Not surprisingly, Shawn's hand was in the air first. Remus nodded to him.

"A Foe Glass shows you blurred, indistinct images of your enemies skulking around. When an adversary grows closer, the image becomes clearer," Shawn replied.

"Excellent. Take ten points to Gryffindor," Arianna's father said. He glanced around. "So, who would like to give it a go first?" He turned around and began heaving a giant mirror around to face the class. The giant, door-sized piece of glass had been leaning up against the wall beforehand. When he finally got it around, Arianna noticed that the frame was decorated blue and silver markings, and inside the glass, dark shadowy figures were lurking about. "Anyone?"

"I will," Arianna volunteered, raising her hand. She didn't even wait for Remus to call on her; she just pranced up to the front of the room and stood in front of the mirror. She heard Grace groan behind her and mumble incoherently, "Where am I?" Arianna paid no attention to this and stared intently into the Foe Glass. The black shadows continued prowling, most of them staying where they were, but one seemed to be drawing closer, and coming more and more into focus. The whole class was watching fixatedly, realizing that Arianna's enemy – whoever it was – was drawing nearer and nearer by the second. Just as the black figure became clear enough to see, the door banged open again.

It was Professor Snape, looking just as furious as he was looking in the Foe Glass.

"LUPIN, I NEED TO SEE YOU," he demanded. "NOW."

"I'm teaching at the moment, Severus," Remus replied. "It will have to wait."

"_NOW_," Snape repeated.

Remus sighed. "All right, class, I'll be outside with Professor Snape if you need me." He pointed to Shawn. "Shawn, you're in charge."

Shawn nodded. "Yes, sir."

A screaming Kevin Cassidy ran in, circled the room once, and ran back out, all the while still being hounded by the homicidal chibi. No one noticed, or, if they did, no one paid any attention.

Some idiot girl that Arianna didn't recognize wandered over to the side of the room, where several eerie-looking animals in cages sat, glaring at the students. One of the cages contained a small cat-type creature, that looked friendly enough. It was white and fluffy. The girl reached out to pet it, cooing softly, "Aren't you cute-"

The creature grabbed her hand and began hissing loudly and angrily. She jumped back, but the creature had a death-grip on her wrist, so this only caused the cage to fall off the counter and onto the floor. At impact, the door to the cage flew open and the creature climbed out, hissing at the students and trying to bite them. The whole class fell silent and backed up against the walls, terrified of those sharp teeth, except for Arianna, Shawn, and Grace, who was still half-conscious on the other side of the room.

"Im-" Arianna began, but Shawn beat her.

"Immobulus," he said, almost lazily. He flicked his wand at the beast, which instantly froze. Arianna glared at him and placed it back in its cage. He helped her place it upright on the counter again.

Remus chose that moment to come back inside, looking rather pale.

"Students, class is dismissed," he said quietly, not looking at anyone in particular. "Headmaster Dumbledore is holding an emergency staff meeting."

"Yay!" the students cheered, not caring in the least bit about what might possibly be making the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher so distraught. They all gathered their things and raced out the door as fast as they could go, eager to have the afternoon off. Arianna and Grace, however, lingered behind.

"Remus-'tousan?" Arianna asked as her father crossed the room and began trying to turn the Foe Glass back around. "What is it?"

He looked at her and shook his head. Arianna nodded, knowing that he would tell her later.

She grabbed the still-half-conscious Grace by the elbow and led her up to the dorms.

"Whassamatter?" Grace mumbled as they arrived back in their dormitory. The boys hadn't gotten there yet, so the room was empty.

"Grace, wake up," Arianna insisted.

Grace sat up straight and stopped mumbling. "Sorry." She cleared her throat. "What's up?"

"I don't know," Arianna said, "but if the teachers are worried, having emergency staff meetings, and canceling classes to do so, then something is wrong."

"Aw, crap," Grace whined. "I was hoping for my first year at Hogwarts to be uneventful."

"With me around?" Arianna laughed. "You've got to be kidding."

"I meant, more along the lines of _somewhat normal_."

"Grasser, dear, _you're_ not 'somewhat normal.'"

Before Grace had time to make a witty come-back, a large white owl chose that moment to soar into the room and perch atop Grace's head.

"Great. Not only am I not normal, but I've become a perch for BIRDS," Grace complained. Arianna only laughed and took the envelope from the owl. The owl, having completed her journey, tucked her head under her wing and fell asleep. Grace glared and tried to swat at her, but the owl didn't budge. Arianna shook her head, trying not to laugh, and opened the envelope.

**__**

Arianna~

Hi. It's me, Harry.

Arianna sighed. _I do not need a check-up from Mr. Overprotective Older Brother._

****

How was your first day at Hogwarts? I heard you got into Gryffindor. Congratulations. I was in Gryffindor as well.

__

Is it too late to transfer to Hufflepuff?

****

Has Snape tried to poison you yet? If he finds out you're related to me, however distantly, he might jump you and try to curse you the first chance he gets, so watch yourself. Have you made any new friends? Make sure that you get on Nearly-Headless Nick's good side early on; he can get you out of trouble if you need it sometimes. And you would be well-advised to stay out of Filch's way.

__

Thanks, bro, but we learned that one on our own.

****

Just thought I'd write you and see how your first day went. Write me back.

__

Harry

"Aarghmaflarg," Arianna grumbled.

"Aarghmaflarg?" Grace repeated.

"YES."

"All righty then."

"Listen, I'm gonna go for a swim. You wanna come?"

"Nah, I'm kinda exhausted from today's events. I'm just gonna stay up here and try to finish _Quidditch Through the Ages_," Grace said, jerking her head in the direction of the book that lay on her bedside table.

"All right; suit yourself," Arianna replied. "I'll be back in about half an hour or so."

"Okay." Grace grabbed her book and settled herself comfortably on her bed, already absorbed in the text. She didn't even notice when three boys ran in, screaming and laughing, as Arianna opened the door to leave.

Arianna made her way down to the lake. Fortunately, her journey remained uninterrupted, and there was no one near the lake.

She took off her robes and her shoes and sat on the shore, letting the gentle waves lap over her bare feet. After a few minutes, she took off her skirt and sweater, leaving them in a pile on top of her robes, and entered the lake. She left on her underclothes, in case any immature members of the male half of the species happened to wander past. The water felt cool, not cold, as it would to most others at this time of year, and soothed her skin. Arianna loved being in the water. She felt at peace in the water. Sometimes, she wished she had fins and gills and could just take off underneath the surface at a million miles an hour.

Arianna swam, and swam, until she was so tired that she could hardly dog-paddle herself back to shore. She dried herself off with a simple Evaporating Spell, got dressed (leaving her robes off), and dragged herself back up to the dorms, reluctant to leave the lake.

She got up to the Gryffindor common room, which took about ten times longer than usual because of how her legs were aching, and went straight to her dormitory to find Grace. Arianna could not have been more surprised when she walked in and found Grace sobbing on her bed. She was curled up on her side, with her head in Ace's lap, who was trying his best to comfort the poor girl (Ace, that is, not his lap). Bryan was sitting on the edge of her bed, with one hand on her shoulder. He, too, looked like he was trying to console her, but it wasn't doing much good. Shawn was standing at the foot of her bed, looking clueless. As usual.

"Grace?" Arianna asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she whimpered. She sniffled and tried to hide her face with her arm.

Arianna raised an eyebrow and looked to Ace for an explanation.

"She finished her book and went out looking for you, when she ran into that Ravenclaw jerk… Ignezio… Inazia… Influenza… ah, whatever his name is… But the point is, she ran into him, and he started calling her names like 'American trash,' and making fun of her bloodline," Ace elucidated. "He called her a Mudblood, which doesn't make much sense, because she's half-blood, but… you know… That Inez guy isn't exactly the brightest."

Arianna nodded. "Thanks, Ace." She sat down on Grace's bed. "I'll take it from here, boys."

Shawn and Bryan bowed out, but Ace stayed. Grace didn't seem to want him to go. _Probably because she's too comfortable in his lap_, Arianna thought, trying not to laugh.

"Grace?"

Grace whimpered in response and sniffled loudly.

"C'mon, Grasser, you're stronger than this," she said in a somewhat soothing voice. "Don't let Ignazio win. Making you cry is _exactly_ what he wants."

"But he's right," she wailed. "My dad, the only link I have to the magic world, was a Hufflepuff LOSER, and the only reason I'm in Gryffindor is because I have my mom's stupid courage."

Arianna smiled, listening to Grace contradict herself back and forth, but said nothing on the topic. Ace seemed to have noticed it, too, but continued stroking her hair comfortingly, in that oh-so-Ace-ful way. Suddenly, Arianna was struck with an idea.

"Hey, Grace," said Arianna. "I just got the greatest idea."

"What?" Grace looked up at Arianna. Her face was covered in tear-stains and her eyes were red and puffy.

"If you promise me that you'll stop crying and that you won't listen to what that jerk Ignazio Vinceguerra says," Arianna began. She paused to let that sink into Grace's brain. Then she continued. "Then tonight, after everyone's asleep, we can sneak into the Ravenclaw dorms and play a few pranks on Ignazio. How's that sound?"

"How will that work though? We don't know the password…"

"I've got it covered," Arianna replied.

Grace pondered this for a moment. Finally, she answered.

"Can I make his boxers sing?"

"That's my girl."

****

~*~

"He probably wears tighty-whiteys anyway," Grace whispered as Arianna unlocked the door to the first-year Ravenclaw boys' dorm.

"That would explain why he's such a jerk," Arianna whispered back. The door slowly creaked open, to reveal Ignazio and the other Ravenclaw boys fast asleep. "Okay. I'll take care of Ignazio himself with a few Muggle pranks I picked up… you go to work on his underwear." 

Grace grinned and began rifling through the trunk, gleefully muttering things like, "Revenge is mine, and, boy, is it sweet…" Arianna shook her head and went into the bathroom. She grabbed the bottle labeled **_Reagan and Roster's Extraordinarily Expensive Shampoo for Men_**.

__

This is definitely Ignazio's, Arianna laughed to herself. She screwed open the top and poured in a little bit of green food coloring. She watched it froth and bubble, then she grinned and dumped the whole lot of it in.

"Ha!" Grace whispered loudly from the main room. "_What_ did I tell you? Tighty-whiteys."

Arianna tried not to laugh aloud, but only succeeded in snorting. She peered around the corner to watch Grace mutter a combination of Latin and Greek before stuffing the underwear back in the trunk and stealing the rest of it.

"What in the world are you doing with Ignazio's underwear?" Arianna asked.

"I'm stealing it."

"Well, yes, obviously. But _why_?"

"So he'll be forced to wear the singing pair."

"Good thinking, my dear." Arianna pulled a bottle of Hubreister's Super-Sticky Honey out her robe pocket and proceeded to pour it into the most expensive-looking hairbrush that lay on the bathroom counter. "Okay, I think that does it. Let's head back to the dorms. I'm exhausted."

"Me, too," Grace agreed.

Once back in the safety of their dorm, Arianna asked, "By the way, Grace… what song was it that you bewitched his underpants to sing?"

Grace replied, "I wanted to get him back for calling me American trash, so if you find his butt singing the Star-Spangled Banner all day tomorrow, that's why."

She and Arianna grinned, then burst into song.

"Oh, say, can you _SEE?!_ By the dawn's early light?!"

The three boys that had, a few seconds ago, been fast asleep, awoke with a start.

"Aw, come on, Ari-kun," Ace moaned. "It's three o'clock in the morning. Can't you sing that tomorrow?"

They both ignored him and continued singing.

"And the rockets' red glare…"

Grace motioned for them to stand. They obliged, knowing that if they didn't, the girls would continue singing until lunchtime, if they were lucky.

"The bombs bursting in air… Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there…"

"Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave…" the boys chimed in dully.

"O'er the land of the free!" Arianna sang loudly.

"And the home of the…"

"BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!" the two chorused together, waking up pretty much the whole castle.

"Bra_vo. En_core. Can we go back to sleep now?"

Arianna grinned. "Did you say 'encore?'"

__

¤~End Chapter~¤

****

And so ends the second chapter written by Scrat. Mwaaah. That took like… forever…

Replies to Reviews:

Jakie: Yes, you get to be in the story. ^^

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Evil Shi-CHan/THe 5|-|!: Eeep! *hides* Goooomeeen. I was gonna add a copyright thingay, but as I do with everything else, I forgot. -_- *meekly* Don't hurt me?  
^_____^ Feel free to draw your heart out. I'm going to create a site as soon as I can to put all the fanart and stuffish on, so I'd LOVE to have your work on it. ^^ And Ace is the definition of kawaii. Which is why we love 'im so much.  
Thank you so much, Shi-chan.

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The 5|-|!: Eee! SHI-CHAAAAAAN! *glomps* Thanks sooooo much for reviewing my fic, despite all the times I've forgotten to review yours. ^^; I LOVE Arianna, but then again, she's based offa me. ^^; The story is set the year after Harry and Co. graduate. So they're all eighteen. As for questioning the usage of Japanese in an HP fic… Gomen, but I couldn't help myself. ^^; It's addictive.   
*blinks, and reads twice* I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOOOOOOU! *glomps tightly* Not only do you review, but you vote for MY FAVORITE PAIRING! Ee! *huggles* You, Shi-chan, are the greatest.

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Jester's Miss American Pie: *gapes* I got a "brilliant" from JESTER'S MISS AMERICAN PIE! *dies* I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON I WAS ALIVE!

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Beater for the Appleby Arrows: You like it! YAY! You're going to be a loyal reader, right? Right? *crickets chirp* NUUUUUUU *sob*  
**Befuzzled**: *blush* Thanks, Befuzzled. We're putting our all and then some into this. Yeah, it gets so boring, hearing Harry being everyone's perfect hero. I figure, it's about time at least _one _kid doesn't worship the ground he walks on. *squeals in delight* I think that's the first time I've ever heard someone thank me in a review for a reason other than reviewing their stuff. Thanks to you, too, for reviewing.  
**Tempral Bouncer**: Doot. Dot dot doot doot dot doot? Dooooooot. Dot dot. ^_^ Dot dot doooooot!


	5. Like Venom Through Your Veins

**Child of Night  
_And the Sword of Souls  
By Ara Moon and Jesse's Peanut Butter Princess  
_****-Chapter Five-  
Like Venom Through Your Veins**

            Jab. 

            "Nimble bimble kimble dong…"

            Jab. 

            "Binka bank!..."

            Jab. 

            "Bikka bakka GRACE GRABADORA McCARTNEY, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

            Grace grinned. "Waking you up." 

            Arianna groaned. "Why would you ever do a stupid thing like that?" 

            From nearby, Ace rolled his eyes. "_You were the one who decided to keep us up all night singing our National Anthem." _

            The female brunette pulled herself up as Grace proceeded to kneel besides Shawn and jab her finger at his forehead. She shot a glare at him. "Oh, just shut up and pass me your pants." 

            Ace blinked. "My pants?" 

            Arianna rolled her eyes, nodding. "Yes, Ace, your pants. As in, those things you wear on your legs?" Ace rolled his eyes in response. 

            "I know _that, Ari-kun. __Why, pray tell, do you want my pants?" _

            "Because skirts are annoying and evil." Ace shrugged and tossed her a pair. 

            There was a loud knock on the door. Arianna yawned, going over to open it. 

            "Err… Ari?" Bryan asked. 

            She stretched up, pausing and looking at him. "What?" 

            He grinned sheepishly. "You're kind of… _not wearing anything."_

            Arianna again rolled her eyes and opened the door. 

            Professor McGonagall stood there, staring at her. Arianna blinked. 

            "Err, good morning, Professor," she said, opening the door wide. "Would you like to come in?" Professor McGonagall stormed in angrily, shutting the door harshly behind her. 

            "What are you _thinking, Ms. Black?!" she demanded. Arianna blinked. _

            "What am I thinking _what?" she asked, yawning. McGonagall gave her a stern look. _

            "What are you _thinking, Ms. Black, answering your door in the nude?" Arianna shrugged. _

            "I dunno. What can I help you with?" McGonagall sighed. 

            "Shawn forgot something with me yesterday. Where is he?" Arianna stifled a yawn with her hand, gesturing to the bed beside hers. She kicked it. 

            "Get up, Russell, or I'll fish you." Said male groaned, rolling over. Grace continued jabbing a finger at his forehead. 

            "WILL YOU BLOODY STOP THAT?!" he roared, shooting up. McGonagall blinked. Shawn looked at her and blushed. 

            "Ah! Professor!" He scrambled from his bed over to her. Arianna rolled her eyes, pulling on her underclothes, followed by Ace's pants, muttering something along the lines of, "Suck up." Shawn shot her a quick glare. Then he turned his sweet smile back to the Professor. 

            "Thank you so much, ma'am!" he exclaimed, taking the book from McGonagall's hand. The witch smiled.

               "Not a problem, Shawn," she said kindly. "I'm amazed that you're even _reading this level of Transfiguration text. The books by Abigail Manatora are very, very advanced. If only __some students—" she shot a look at Bryan, "—were this enthusiastic about their work." _

            Arianna grabbed a white shirt from the trunk at the bottom of her four-poster, buttoning it up while attempting to block out McGonagall's babble. _Bloody suck up lycanthrophobic git… she thought, angrily buttoning it up. She pulled on the gray overshirt, snatching a gold and red Gryffindor tie from Bryan and pulling it on. _

            The hazel-eyed witch continued getting ready for class. When she reentered her dorm from the bathroom, McGonagall and Shawn were engaged in a conversation. Arianna pulled on her shoes roughly, tugged on her robes, and shouldered her bookbag. 

            "See you at breakfast, Grace," she said quickly, and headed for the door. 

            "Where are _you going?" she questioned, eyebrow raised. "Breakfast isn't for another half hour." Arianna shrugged, and walked out without a glance back. McGonagall blinked and looked after her. _

            "Is she always so… moody?" she asked. Shawn shrugged. 

            "Don't know, don't care." The conversation continued for a few minutes before McGonagall looked at her watch and politely excused herself. As soon as she was gone, Ace shot Shawn a questioning look. 

            "Okay, Shawn, spill it. What the hell happened?" Shawn shrugged. 

            "Nothing. Nothing at all," he said in an indifferent, solid manner. The group watched him silently as he opened his book, falling onto his bed. 

~*~

            _Annoying brownnosing prick… Bloody git…_

_            Arianna stormed through the corridors, head down, bag firm at her side as she marched angrily to the Great Hall. She couldn't understand why she was so angry, but she just __was._

            _Thinks he's so hot… I'll show you hot, you insolent little—_

_            The brunette walked into something soft, yet solid, and went tumbling to the floor. She scrambled around, collecting her bag and a large, dusty brown book that had landed beside her in the collision. _

            "Sorry," she mumbled, not looking up as she gathered the books in a clumsy rush, "I wasn't looking, and--"

            "It's quite alright, Ari, really." Arianna paused and looked up. She grinned slightly as she realized that it had been Remus. Straightening herself, she handed him the book, looking at the title with a cocked eyebrow.

            "_Mysteries of Magical Items by Idala Sakoni?" Remus snatched the book from her hand. "Why on earth are you reading __that?" she asked. The elder brunette quickly shoved the book in his bag. _

            "Research for—for your class," he said quickly. Arianna blinked. He coughed. 

            "Err—so why're you in such a rush? Breakfast isn't for a while." Slightly paled skin flushed. Remus rolled his eyes with a grin. 

            "Say, why don't we have breakfast in my office? Won't take you too long to get from there to Charms, and I want to hear all about your first day." Arianna nodded, grinning, and he led her up to his second floor office.

            The room wasn't much, but Arianna was in love the moment she stepped in. She immediately rushed over to the first thing she saw, a tank of what looked to be hairy rocks. Remus called out a warning, but it was too late. 

            She stared at the tank, transfixed, as an odd feeling washed over her. The brunette felt like she would choke from the sheer, unadulterated hopelessness filling her. She wanted to move, to get away, but everything was useless, living was pointless… All she wanted was to lie down right there, give it all up… The rock was now looking up at her with hungry black eyes.

            Her father grabbed her by the robe, tugging her away from the tank. He muttered a spell, wand pointed at the tank. The feeling suddenly disappeared. Hazel eyes blinked. 

            "What the…?" 

            Remus pocketed his wand, sitting down behind his desk. Arianna collapsed into the chair in front of it. 

            "Pogrebin," he explained. "They're native to Russia. Pogrebins are known to follow people disguised as a harmless stone. They fill people with utter hopelessness. Once the victim passes out from it, the Pogrebin devours their body." 

           "Ooooh," Arianna said, staring at it. "You've got the best bloody job in the school," she said with a wistful sigh. Remus raised an eyebrow. 

            "Oh?" 

            "Mm-hmm," she said, inspecting a cage of grindylow. "All these interesting creatures… You get to work with everything from grindylow to these Pogrebins to boggarts," she said, eyes twinkling. She turned around, grinning. 

            "I'm especially looking forward to the boggart lesson," she said, pulling herself away from the creatures and back to the chair. Remus smiled at her. 

            "And why is this?"

            The brunette grinned. "It could do us all some good to know our fears are. That way, we can conquer them." Remus nodded. He waved his wand toward the fireplace. 

            "Tea?" he asked. Arianna made a face. He chuckled. 

            "It's not _that bad, Ari," he said. He used his wand to carry the kettle from across the room, and poured himself a cupful. Arianna watched as the water made the mixture turn brown. _

            "I can't see how you Brits can _enjoy that. It has no taste. We were right in dumping it into Boston Harbor," she said playfully. Remus grinned, rolling his eyes. No matter where his daughter was, she'd always be a patriot. _

            The golden-eyed man tapped his desk twice with his wand. Arianna blinked as a house elf scurried in, covered in a ratty pillowcase. 

            "How can Minky help sir?" the elf asked in her high voice, bowing. The brunette blinked twice. 

            "A cup of…" he looked towards Arianna, who blinked blankly in response. 

            "Uuh… hot chocolate?" Remus nodded.

            "A cup of hot chocolate, and two plates of whatever this morning's meal is." Minky nodded, stepping back. Shee tripped over Arianna's foot. Said brunette's arm flew out, grabbing the house elf by the back of her pillowcase. However, she didn't put her down. She hoisted her up, inspecting her. 

            "Never knew there were house-elves at Hogwarts," she said.

            "Y-y-yes, ma'am. Many house-elves is here at Hogwarts," she stuttered nervously. After a moment, she put him down. She grinned and bowed sweepingly. 

            "Thank you for taking such good care of the castle, then," she said. Minky blinked happily at her. 

            "You is very welcome!" she said, and disappeared. Remus grinned at her from behind his cup. 

            "So, Ari, how was your first day of classes?" he asked. Arianna leaned back in the slightly ratty chair. She thought for a moment. 

            "It was… Well, it was interesting, to say the least." She grinned, recounting the events of the past two days. 

            "I'm rooming with three guys and Grace…" 

            "Oh, no," Remus groaned. "Remember the trouble you and Karamin's nephew used to get into?" Arianna grinned, and swatted him playfully. 

            "Hush, you," she said, and he laughed. Two plates of food appeared on the table, and they dug in, Arianna still talking. 

            "Anyway," she began, "They're all pretty cool. Ace is rather cute, and innocent, to boot. I'd probably go for him if he was interested in the fairer sex." Remus raised an eyebrow. His daughter dug into her eggs hungrily. "Bryan's a tad… dense, at times, but he's good at heart, and Grasser's head over heels for him."  

            "And Shawn?" Remus prodded. The younger brunette's eyes flashed for a moment, almost undetectably. 

            "Shawn's, ah… Well, I thought he was pretty cool, but…" The werewolf munched on a piece of bacon. 

            "…he's stubborn, and hates being outwitted?" Remus finished. Arianna nodded.

            "And then there's the whole lycanthrophobic issue…" Remus heaved a sigh, chin in hands. 

            "Arianna," he began, "you don't need to argue it. People will be afraid no matter what. It's how it's been, and it's how it always will be." Arianna looked down, fists clenched. 

            "I know! But… it's not fair…" Remus looked at his daughter with a touch of sadness in his eyes, battled by a touch of pride. He reached across the table and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

            "Discrimination is never fair, but we have to brave it." The bell rang, and Arianna scooped up her bag. Walking over, she pecked a kiss to his cheek, and walked to the door. 

            "See ya, 'tousan. Love ya," she said. Remus smiled at the brunette. 

            "See you at lunch." Arianna paused at the door, and grinned. 

            "Oh, and Remus?"

            Remus looked up at her. "Hmm?"

            "If you hear Ignazio's pants singing, it wasn't me." She smiled and slipped out. Remus smiled as the door clicked shut.

            _Just like Sirius… he thought, cleaning off his desk. He paused for a moment. __But the question is, is that a good thing or a bad thing?_

~*~

            Arianna made it to Charms several minutes before everyone else. It was taught by Professor Flitwick, a short man that reminded the brunette of a kind-looking goblin (an oxymoron if she ever did see one). She took a seat towards the middle and waited. 

           The tiny man scrambled from the pile of books on his chair to the floor, and scurried in front of her. "Hello there, Miss…?" he trailed off, expecting Arianna to finish. She complied. 

            "Arianna Black," she said. Flitwick squeaked.

            Slowly, the room began to fill. Arianna growled as Shawn walked by, stubbornly not looking at her. _Stupid moronic goody-goody ba—a hand rested on her shoulder. She squealed and jumped, turning around. Brown eyes blinked back at her. _

            "Jeez, Ari, breathe…" Said brunette took a deep breath as Grace sat down beside her. 

            "Where were you at breakfast? You missed the greatness of singing pants." Arianna grinned at her slightly. 

            "Wasn't hungry," she lied in a murmur as class began. 

            Despite his size, Flitwick seemed to demand respect. "In this class, you will be learning one of the most-used parts of magic; spells, incantations, hexes, and the likes." Arianna spaced out through the rest of the lecture. 

            Charms was mostly boring for the brunette. The practiced the infamous swish and flick (a movement Arianna could do in her sleep), and a few minor spells to test out their wands. Grace was a natural, laughing giddily as she perfected every spell. Arianna calmed her down considerably, though, after she _Lumos-ed Kevin's eyes, causing him to run blindly and trip over Flitwick._

            Next came Herbology with Ravenclaw, something the brunette was thoroughly looking forward to. After all, there's something particularly enjoyable about your rival's underpants bursting into song. 

            "Today we will be learning about the tools used while working with the plants," Professor Sprout announced when they were all settled. She was a kind-looking woman, plump with flyaway white hair. 

            "Put on your dragonhide gloves, now, children… Yes, yes, hurry along…" The students obediently pulled on the handwear, following the professor for a tour. 

            "Now this, class, is a…" Grace leaned over with a grin. 

            "Look at Ignazio!" she whispered, and Arianna complied. Her hazel eyes slid to look as far as they could without her moving her head. The brunette's long hair hid any clue that she was looking at him. 

            Earlier said Ravenclaw was glaring at Arianna with fury in his eyes. Meanwhile, Arianna was desperately trying to keep herself from laughing, for she feared that if she started, it would take years in St. Mungo's to get her to stop.

            The arrogant boy's normally raven-black hair was a lovely bile-green, and his hands were tinted a similar color. _Thank you, Marauders, for being mages of the pranking business. _

_            He turned, and Arianna couldn't hold it any longer. She snorted loudly, eliciting a few stares from the nearby students. She bit her lip hard, taking in a deep breath. _

            On the back of Ignazio's head was a large, purple brush, stuck to his head with honey. 

            _Oh, this is priceless! she cried mentally, shooting a look at Grace. The blonde grinned back at her. So that only the brunette would notice, she waved her wand as if conducting an orchestra. _

            "_Oh…" they mouthed together. _

            "OH, SAY, CAN YOU SEE?! BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT!?" The entire greenhouse of students burst out laughing as the deep baritone of Ignazio's underpants erupted into song. 

            Arianna and Grace joined in, conducting side by side. "What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming!"

            Magical silver ribbons formed into words thanks to Professor Sprout. (Arianna was thoroughly pleased that the witch could at least have a_ little fun.) Together, the other students chimed in, "And the rocket's red glare!"_

            "The bombs bursting in air!" Ace. 

            "Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there!" The wonderful voice of Angelika Paskins. 

            "Ohh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave…" Arianna.

            "O'er the land of the free…" The Ravenclaws.

            "And the home of the…" The Gryffindors. 

            "BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!" Together, they finished, voices blended. From the doorway, Dumbledore (whom Arianna thought had an uncanny ability to appear anywhere on school grounds), applauded. 

            "Bravo! Twenty points to each of your houses for a wonderful lesson in the beauty of music." The students cheered. Ignazio huffed, rear still singing, though slightly quieter. "Now, if you don't terribly mind, I must borrow your teacher for a moment." Professor Sprout sent him a worried look. 

            "Don't worry, now, nothing serious. Severus is just in need of some more potions supplies…" Arianna heard him say as the door closed. Immediately the room exploding into chatter, people wandering off into far corners, chatting and looking at all the plants. 

            The first thing Ignazio did was walk straight over to her, his goons flanking him. 

            "Black," he said. Although he attempted to sound cold, Arianna was very perceptive, and thus didn't miss the fury buried in his words. 

            "Vinceguerra," she replied, in a calm, almost friendly voice. Almost. "Lovely underwear you've got there. Didn't know they sold singing tighty-whiteys." Several people nearby sniggered. Ignazio fumed. 

            "I'll make you _pay, Black," he said angrily. "Do you know who I am?!" _

            Arianna mocked thoughtfulness. "Hrm… A hopeless wannabe with no fashion sense? Or knees, at that." Ignazio growled. 

            "I'm a Vinceguerra! We're the most powerful family in all of Italy! Lowlifes like you and your murderer of a father don't even deserve to lick our shoes, let alone attend the same school as us." He sneered. 

            Grace started to form a retort when Arianna said in a frigid quiet, "Don't you _ever talk about my father." Grace froze, and stared at her. _

            "Ari?" 

            The brunette, however, didn't respond. She had fixed her cold glare on Ignazio. Black hatred had entered her veins like a poison, and she heard every beat of her heart, pumping it through her body. 

            **_Like venom through your veins… the voice in her head remarked thoughtfully. She ignored it. _**

            Despite being green-haired and utterly humiliated, one had to admire Ignazio's abilty to keep that haughty air. With every ounce of dignity intact, he said, "Oh? What's he gonna do? Kill me, just like he killed those Muggles?"

            "No," Arianna replied, "but_ I will." _

            Ignazio sneered. "I knew it," he said. "From the moment I heard your name, I knew you'd be _just like him. A murderer. A coldblooded, traitorous murderer. They should give you __both the Dementor's Kiss." _

            For a moment, it looked as if they were going to leap at each other's throats. The students that had gathered around were frozen, waiting for the next move, for fists to fly and hexes to ring in the air. 

            But neither came. 

            And in the opinion of every magical-born child there, it was by far worse than either. 

            Arianna Black bit her thumb. 

            Several Muggle-borns were staring in confusion. Shawn was among them. When he nudged Ace, asking about the collective gasp that had echoed through the room, he only shook his head, gulped, and whispered, "She's got _guts, man."_

            The brunette continued glaring as she bit down on her thumb, hard enough to draw blood with her right fang. Ignazio was in shock. Then she removed the digit from her mouth and ran her thumb along each cheek, living a smudge of blood along each. She placed the finger in between his eyes, then dragged it down his nose slowly, trailing his front until it rested over his heart. 

            "For my father's honor," Arianna stated. Her tone was hard to make out, but her face was the most serious any of them had ever seen. "For my father's honor, by my own." Her thumb was still firmly planted on his chest. The pressure caused more blood to push itself out, flowing silently. She took her other palm and placed it flat to her chest. 

            "For the honor of my father, by my honor. Do you assent?" 

            Ignazio took a deep gulp. He seemed to be calculating something. The thumb pushed harder, almost bruising the flesh beneath.

            "I assent." 

            "By your wand?"

            "I assent." 

            "By your honor?"

            "I assent."

            "By your life?" 

            Ignazio took a deep breath, and stepped into the hole he had dug himself. 

            "I assent." 

            Arianna dropped the hand on her own chest. With that hand, she lifted Ignazio's hand, biting the index finger. She then trailed it over the marks on his cheeks, and pressed the wounded digit to her own wounded thumb.

            "By blood mingled, I assent."

            The brunette released his hand. A tingling sensation ran over their bodies, Arianna's accompanied with a flurry of what looked like black powder, Ignazio's with white. There was a gasp as she raised her arm. 

            In bloodlike letters on her forearm were the initials, _I.V., surrounded by a complex, intertwining tattoo. _

            The two separated completely, and they dropped the ritual look. "The challenge has been issued and accepted, Vinceguerra," she said roughly. "I have bound you by your honor, your magic, and your life. Don't think you can chicken out." She tapped the mark on her arm twice with her wand. 

            "This Sunday. Midnight. What's the place?" 

            "Charms classroom." Arianna nodded. 

            Meanwhile, Shawn blinked. What the _hell just happened? And why couldn't he understand a __bloody word they said?! Arianna tapped the mark again. _

            "You know what happens if you should lose, or miss it, correct?" Ignazio smirked. 

            "Of course. One does not enter a Bonded Duel without knowing the details, now, do they?" He sneered. "Although, it _is a wonder how you managed to even __know about Bonded Duels, what with __your family's standing… Why, one would have to be of __good blood to even know that they __existed, let alone __initiate one." He gave her a haughty look. "I suppose that there are __some exceptions to everything."_

            Arianna rolled her eyes, tapping his face with her wand, then his abdomen. 

            "You can wash that off at midnight," she said, ignoring him. "_Your mark'll be on your chest, as __no one would want to look there." He fumed. _

            "Why you--!" The bell rang. Arianna marched out, leaving behind a confused and awed greenhouse of students. 

~*~

            Arianna was sitting calmly at the Gryffindor table as the students from her last class entered. Ace immediately ran up to her, and began shaking her by the shoulders. 

            "_What," shake, "__were __you," shake, "__bloody," shake, "__THINKING!" Arianna blinked. _

            "Ace, breathe." He took a deep breath, and collapsed next to her. He dropped his head into his hands. 

            "Ugh," he groaned, "Have you even thought about what you've put on stake?" Arianna blinked at him, a large hunk of steak in her mouth. 

            "Myrph," she replied. He rolled his eyes. "Arianna, swallow." She complied. 

            "Yes, I did, Ace. Don't worry; they aren't as serious as they seem. They're only really fancy because they're ancie--" Suddenly, Arianna was grabbed and hoisted up by Bryan. 

            "Is it true?!" he asked excitedly. "You challenged that Vinceguerra twit to a Bonded Duel?!" He was shaking her, too. She groaned. 

            "I think what's left of my brain is oozing from my ears…" Bryan dropped her and pulled up the seat across from her. 

            "Sooo… Didja?" Arianna nodded. Bryan's eyes glinted. 

            Grace sighed and plopped down beside the brunette. Shawn took a seat on her other side, furthest from Arianna. He looked like he was attempting to ignore their conversation. 

            "Hey Grasser," she said, swallowing a potato. "You okay?" The blonde nodded. 

            "Mmm. Mind telling us about that stunt you pulled back there?" Shawn's ear was twitching in curiosity. If Arianna noticed, she didn't say anything. 

            "As long as you don't shake me…" she murmured. Grace raised an eyebrow. Arianna sighed, idly itching at her arm. 

            "Bonded Dueling is a rather ancient art. Basically, it's a more personal than Wizard Dueling. It was widely used centuries ago, but nowadays, people don't want fighting to be an art. They simply wish to kill, so the art pretty much died out. Only aristocrats and people of high standings learn its ways."

            "And so by initiating a Bonded Duel, you insulted the twit's pride by knowing all about something that only rich snobs do," Ace said sagely. Arianna nodded.

            "So what, exactly, does this duel entail?" Grace asked. 

            "Do ya need a second?" Bryan questioned through a mouthful of food. 

            Arianna shook her head, munching on a long piece of asparagus. "Nope. Like I said, Bonded Duels are more personal, so the duelists fight alone. That's why we were marked with only each other's names." She munched thoughtfully. 

            "As for what it entails," she began, "we'll duel, obviously. Not too different from Wizard Duels. There are some restrictions and positions, as well as formalities. The bonding marks restrict us from attacking before the scheduled day, and requires that we are at least remotely civil. By the mark's standard, that would mean that we don't inflict serious damage, or kill them. But," she said, grinning, "If I win, he can't insult my family anymore. He'll be disgraced immensely. Also, if I wished, I could steal his magic, his name, and his life, as he swore by those in agreement." 

            "And if you lose?" Shawn said. Arianna blinked. She hadn't known he was there. 

            "If I lose," she began, slowly, "he'll be able to do whatever he damn well pleases. The victor has dominance over the loser." They stared. "He could, also, form a bond between us, in any way he chooses. I swore by 'blood mingled.'" Shawn shook his head. 

            "You can't do this," he whispered hoarsely. "If you lose…"

            "I initiated it," she interrupted. "Thus, should I not compete, he's automatically victorious." Grace had a thoughtful look. She quelled it with, "Should he back out, there will be a bond formed between us anyway." Grace looked disappointed. 

            "Look, I know I'll win, okay?" And with that, the bell rang. 

            There were many unspoken rules of the school. One was that whenever there was to be a duel (or general breaking of rules), every student would know, and go to every length to keep the teachers from knowing as well. It was simply honor, and for this, Arianna was grateful, as she wasn't swarmed with teachers as soon as she entered History of Magic.

            Arianna took her seat as far back as she could manage, closest to the window. She waited for Grace to grab the seat beside her. However, things did not work out this way. 

            On the way to History of Magic, Arianna was aware of her two blonde friends whispering back and forth. She had assumed that it was about the Bonded Duel, so she had ignored it. But now, as the last bell rang and her three first-year dorm mates rushed in, she realized that she was wrong. 

            Grace scurrying forward to sit with Ace a row ahead was also a bit of a giveaway. 

            The only seat left was the one to Arianna's side. The only person not seated was Shawn. 

            In Hogwarts, there was another rule; if you're plotting something, the class has the responsibility to get involved. 

            Sighing, Shawn plopped down next to the brunette, with whom he still wasn't quite on speaking terms with. He took out his parchment and quills, silently awaiting Professor Binns to begin. 

            Professor Binns was possibly the most boring ghost she had ever met. He rambled on and on about nothing that made sense, yet Shawn was diligently taking notes. Grace had fallen asleep on her inkwell. Arianna snorted. 

            _Serves you right, McCartney.__ Beside her, Ace was flipping through a __Yu Yu Hakusho manga boredly. Yawning, she snatched a piece of parchment from Shawn, much to his displeasure, as well as a quill. She dipped it in his inkwell and wrote:_

            **_How are you enjoying this?_**

            He rolled his eyes. Picking up his quill, he replied:

            _It's interesting._

            **_No it bloody well is not, unless you have a kinky fetish for being bored to death._**

            He blushed. _Well at least I__ don't have a fetish for turning things into vicious midgets._

            **_"Chibis," love. And I have a fetish for fangs. Which is better than listening to weird dead guys babbling about other dead people. _**

**_            Shawn raised an eyebrow. "Fangs?" he mouthed. Arianna shrugged. He shook his head. _**

            _I don't want to know._

_            **Yes, you do. **_

_            Shush._

_            …**I thought ****you**__ were the one not talking to me.__ Shawn blushed. "Ehh… About that…" he whispered.  _

            "I forgive you," she interrupted with a smile. She then gestured back to the paper. 

            **_It's quieter this way. _**

**_…You are, of course, aware that there are people snogging in the front row and he's not noticing, right?_**

_            She quirked an eyebrow. ****__And is that what you're insinuating we do, Mr. Russell?_

**_            The dark haired male blushed furiously. __No!_**

            Hazel eyes twinkled. **_Aww_****_, you're no fun. _**

            Shawn snorted. _I'm going to ignore that, Black. So if Bonded Dueling is so rare, then why was everyone so awed by you biting your thumb?_

_            **The biting of one's thumb in such a situation is sort of like the magical equivalent of… what do Muggles call it?... flipping someone off, except a hundred times worse. It's extremely offensive. Not ever used in civil meetings, anyway. It was developed from the Bonded Dueling Ceremony, though.**_

_            How do you know all this?_

            How _wouldn't she know? Her father was the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher! Dueling of any sorts fit into the "Defense" part of the title. Arianna chewed on her quill thoughtfully, then spat out the bits of feather. Naturally, Shawn wouldn't know that Remus was her father, so… ****__Can't tell you, love. Tis a secret._

_            Please?_

_            **Nope. Sorry.**_

            He pouted. _All right, then… You think you're prepared for a Bonded Duel? We're only first years. Maybe you should research a little._

            She blanched. **_A Black?_****_ Research? Never!_**

**_What about a Russell, then? He wrote, blushing slightly. Arianna smiled. _**

            **_Sounds good to me._******

**_            At long last, the class ended. As Shawn gathered his books, Arianna waited. "What do we have next?" she asked him._**

            "Quidditch, with Hufflepuff," he replied with a grin. She returned it. 

            "This should be good…"

~*~

            Their final class was anything but boring. 

            Arianna loved Quidditch, though it was difficult to figure out just _why. As she had told Shawn just yesterday, she preferred having two—or in the case of yesterday's discussion, four—feet firmly planted to the ground. The ground was consistent, and you could anticipate the bumps and turns and dips. They sky wasn't any of these. The sky just __was._

            Perhaps it was the sensation of wind rushing through long hair, beating against skin, drowning her in its invisible immeasurable depths. Or maybe it was giving her control completely over to nature, and the wildness of being at nature's every whim. Sometimes, she even thought that it might just be the tomboy in her, itching to show her worth. 

            Whatever it was, the brunette loved flying, and was damned good at it, to boot.

            Madame Hooch instructed them to stand beside a broom and command it to rise. Arianna was one of the few to land it on their first try. Shawn, surprisingly, was one of the last ones to succeed in making their broom come to them. Kevin was knocked unconscious by his broom, after he became frustrated with it and kicked it. The kick was weak, but nonetheless angered the broom, and as any self-respecting wizard should know, one should never anger an inanimate object. 

            "Okay, class," Madame Hooch began, "mount your brooms, hover for a moment, and come right back down." Arianna complied, wondering briefly how she could feel just as at home in the air as she was on the ground. She was comfortable with the broom, and as it was the same in return, she had an advantage against her classmates, most whom had never touched a broom, or properly ridden one. 

            She grinned, assessing her competition. As her "stupid godbrother" (that was the only proper way she could refer to him; "Harry" was too personal for her liking) had left Hogwarts, Gryffindor would need a new seeker. She had experience (_Karamin's__ champion two years running, she thought with a small amount of allowed smugness.) Paired with her born skill, she was an exceptional player. _

            Shawn was really her only main threat. He had the amazing honing abilities, but his work with a broom was seriously lacking. With a sigh (and a, "Good work, Black!" from Hooch), she landed beside the raven-haired male. 

            Grace was hovering across from her. "Ari! I'M DOING IT! I CAN FLYYY!" She threw her arms up, laughing giddily. The brunette winced as she watched her friend slide off her broom, sending it flying up and her falling down. 

            With a yawn, Arianna walked over to Shawn, inspecting his pathetic efforts. She sighed. _I hope I don't regret this… she thought, as she began to explain the one thing that gave her an advantage for the Seeker position. _

            "Shawn," she said sternly, "you're treating it like a quill. A broom is not something you _use." Shawn blinked. _

            "It's not?" Arianna rolled her eyes, walking behind him. 

            "No, it's not." She placed her hands over his, planting them properly on the broom. "A broom is like…" She paused. Shawn's infatuation with birds sprang to mind. "…like a falcon." His eyes glittered. 

            "A broom is like a falcon, Shawn," she began. "It's free and wild. To work with it, you must gain its _trust." Shawn blinked. _

            "How do I gain the trust of something that _isn't alive?" Another sigh. _

            "Brooms have a considerable amount of magic in them. From your time in the wizarding world, you should know that, just because something doesn't need oxygen or those things humans need, it doesn't mean that they aren't alive in a different sense." She positioned Shawn on the broom. 

            "Concentrate, Shawn, not on the broom, but on _yourself." He raised an eyebrow. Arianna sighed, but didn't give up. She was very curious about the potential this wizard had, and damned if he thought he was going to waste it. _

            "Picture yourself flying. You're the falcon, soaring above the crowds of faceless humans below. You can see them, but you don't care. All that matters is the feel of the wind over you, soaring and diving at breakneck speed. Your prey darts about before you. You were _born to catch that bird, Shawn. You've got the speed. Now just…" She released the broom. It floated up. _

            "…spread your wings." Shawn opened his eyes, and looked down in a happy shock. Deep blue eyes locked onto hazel. Arianna grinned at him, giving him a thumb up.

            "You, Shawn Russell," she remarked as they carried their brooms to the shed after class, "were _born for the sky. Get a better hang on your broom, Love, and I __know you'll be the best Hogwarts has ever seen." She made a face. "Even better than my stupid godbrother." _

            With that, she walked over to Grace as the headed back to the dorms. Shawn stayed behind for a moment, watching her in wonderment. Then he grinned. 

            _Don't worry, Arianna Black, he thought to himself as he met up with Ace. __I'll fly for you. And I won't let you down.  _

~*~

            Arianna had headed to her dorm with the complete intent to collapse unceremoniously onto her bed and sleep until dinner. The day had been very long, and the ceremony she performed had been particularly tiring. 

            However, she never got the chance to. 

            As soon as she got to her dorm, she paused at the doorway, blinking. Something just wasn't right. She looked for anything that might be out of place. 

            It was then that she noticed the redhead. 

            With a polite cough from Arianna, the girl shot up from where she had been previously burying her head into the brunette's pillow and sheets, mumbling contently. She blushed guiltily. 

            "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know this was _your--" she paused. "Hey, wait, isn't this a __boy's dorm?" Arianna sighed, rolling her eyes and stepping forward. She extended a hand. _

            "Arianna Black," she said. "I'd like to know why you were just molesting my sheets." 

            Tentatively, the girl took her hand and shook it. She stood from the bed, still blushing. 

            "Err, ahh—Virginia Weasley. People call me Ginny." Arianna shook her hand. 

            "Well, Ginny…" she began, when suddenly, Ginny burst into a rampant explanation. 

            "I'm so sorry! You see, this bed used to be Harry Potter's, and he graduated last year, and I--" she sniffled. "I miss him so MUUUUUCH!" she wailed. Arianna paused.

            "Did you say Harry Potter?" Ginny nodded, sniffling. Arianna groaned, walked calmly to the wall, and beat her head against it. Repeatedly. 

            "First I get that bloody news in the fireplace," she said with a growl, in between hits. "Next, I end up going to the same school as him." Hit. Bang. "Then the same _house as him." Smack. Crash. Rattle. "And NOW the SAME BLOODY __BED AS HIM!" She growled, smashing it harder. _

            "I. Am. Not. Bloody. Harry. POTTER!" She grabbed a confused Ginny by the shoulders, shaking her. "DO I LOOK LIKE MY STUPID GODBROTHER?!" she demanded. The redhead blinked. 

            "He's your… godbrother?" She nodded. "Lucky…" she muttered. Arianna let out a frustrated growl. Ace wandered in, Shawn beside him. She grabbed Ace by the shoulders. 

            "DO. I. LOOK. LIKE. BLOODY. HARRY. POTTER?!" Ace blinked, and patted her on the shoulder. 

            "Ari, are you having an identity crisis?" Arianna "AUGHED!" loudly, collapsing onto her free bed, muttering angrily. Ginny slipped out silently. 

            Bryan walked in, wiping water from his forehead. His shirt was removed. Grace began to drool slightly. "What's the matter with her?" he asked. The brunette only groaned and rolled over. 

            Ace shrugged. "We don't know. Apparently, she thinks she's Harry Potter." 

            "Well, when you think about it…" 

            Arianna growled. "Shut your bloody mouths, you insolent morons," she hissed in a way so similar to Snape it was scary. They closed their mouths promptly. She groaned and rolled over. 

            "I am not Harry Potter, I am not Harry Potter, I am _not Harry freakin' Potter…"_

            Suddenly, Grace snorted. Arianna sent a glare at her. "What?" 

            "CORNISH FRIGGIN' PIXIE!" she exclaimed. Ace and Bryan laughed. Shawn sighed and opened a book. Arianna beat her head against her bedpost, reciting her mantra until the hippocampi came home. 

~*~

            Friday came quickly, and for the most part, uneventfully. Ignazio had, naturally, been sending her as many smug looks as possible, and people everywhere were coming over to question her. Shawn was a constant at her side. 

            She found herself in her dorm staring blankly at a piece of parchment shortly after Magical Healing. With a groan, she rolled over, scooped up her inkwell and paper, and walked to the Owlery.

            The owls seemed happy to see her. She fed them treats and pet them for a while before curling up in one corner of the room, parchment in hand. She stared at the results of an hour's work. 

            **_Dear._**

            The brunette sighed. Dear _what? "Harry" was way too personal, "Moron" wouldn't blow over well with Sirius, and "Your Highness" probably wouldn't either. She sighed, doodling on the edges of the parchment, pondering. Resignedly, she just said, "Screw it!" and wrote "Potter" at the top. _

            The voice in her head snorted. **_Is that it?_**

**_I'm thinking, dammit!_**

_            **Gasp! I'll alert the presses! Arianna rolled her eyes, and began to write. After about fifteen minutes, she paused to read it over. **_

            **Dear Potter,**

**            Survived first week of Hogwarts. You can tell Sirius to celebrate now, and that I've done the Marauders proud. I'm rather surprised that I have yet to be buried in Howlers. Ah well. There's always next week. **

**            A Miss Virginia Weasley sends you her greeting. Actually, I walked in on her molesting my sheets (which, she claims, used to be yours), but I suppose that's her way of saying hello. Or releasing sexual frustration. I don't intend to find out.**

            Arianna shuddered. "Oh, great, now I can never look at those sheets the same way again…"

            **It figures that you'd have been a Gryffindor. Actually, Grasser and I were hoping for Ravenclaw, but the Sorting Hat decided it hated us. Honestly, it can be so bloody impatient…**

**            The first day wasn't too hard, actually. Filch made us late for Transfiguration (still can't wait for Vinceguerra to get those detention slips filled out in his name.) I turned Snape into a chibi (see upper left corner of parchment), so he cancelled class, and then the rest of the day's classes were cancelled after Dumbledore called an emergency staff meeting in the middle of Defense. **

**            Day two was, ah… a tad more interesting. Scoped out possible replacements for the missing Seeker of the Quidditch team; seems that only Shawn and I fill the requirements of this year. He'd put you to shame; caught a Snitch with his head buried in a book. Too bad he doesn't trust the broom enough. But we're working on him. **

**            I've got a dormful of friends, and at least one (or two, if you count Cassidy) enemies. Grace and I got shoved into the boy's dorm with two other first years and a second year who Grasser's head-over-heels for. Even though he threatened to turn her into a marmoset.**

**            The brunette paused, turning her wrist with a wince. It was beginning to ache, and the large gold band wasn't helping much, either. **

            **Ugh. The Owlery isn't exactly the most comfortable place to write letters. Couldn't they just get some couches? No, wait, couches equal snogging sessions. Snogging sessions equal not-so-happy owls. But dammit, my back hurts. Arghmaflarg, can I just describe the new banes of Hogwarts' existence in note style?**

**            Grace McCartney: Dangerously spiffy. Bit ditz…ish, but she's my best friend, and can prove rather humorous. Got upset after Ignazio insulted her blood (she's half-blooded; apparently, her "stupid Hufflepuff father" died when she was little), but we got him back. She's brilliant at Charms. And I'll never forget the brilliance of singing underpants.**

**            Ace Young: Everyone's favorite kawaii pureblood. Too bad he's not straight. He's got lovely hair, really, and a beautiful smile. Though he needs sleep. Why, I'll never know. Who needs sleep? Viva la insomniacs!**

**            Shawn Russell: Blushes like a tomato. Wait, no, tomatoes are already red. He blushes like _you, Potter. Brilliant mind, excellent honing skills, but blushes like a moron. Too shy as well. But that's nothing a few months with me won't fix, hnn?_**

**            Bryan Murray: The jock. What he lacks in brains he makes up with heart. Though he did threaten to turn Grasser into a marmoset. Mmm. Marmosets and crushes. I ought to write a book about that. **

**            I am proud to say that Snape has yet to jump me. Though that's a rather amusing mental picture. I mean, me walking down a corridor, and him leaping out of the closet…**

**            The brunette snorted at what she unintentionally wrote. **

            **You can draw your own conclusions about my Potion's professor's sexual preference from that. I'd rather not ponder that, as my brain tends to get carried away. **

**            Filch needs a sedative. And a stuffed animal. Ah, and mental help. Serious mental help. Maybe even permanent institutionalization in St. Mungo's. Anything that'll make him stop acting like he's got a wand shoved up his… **

**            The door opened. Remus peeked in. "Hey, Ari, it's dinner time." She nodded. **

            "'Kay. Lemme just finish this letter." He walked over and sat down next to her, looking at the parchment. 

            "Who ya writin' to?"

            "Potter."

            "Ahh." He smiled. "Decided to get along with him?"

            Arianna looked up at him emotionlessly. "Decided to be dutifully tolerant of him, because he's going to be adopted into the family eventually." She shuddered. Remus grinned. 

            "Well, don't be 'dutifully tolerant' for too much longer, now. I'll be waiting downstairs for dinner. See you there." He hugged her and headed back out. Arianna picked up her quill. 

            **Well, I've got to go. Remus says it's dinnertime. Send Sirius my love. May your days be filled with rabid emus and a slightly deranged turkey. With rubber pants. Ooh, and a plastic moose. **

**Marauders for life,**

**_Arianna_****__**

**_            She read it over quickly, then added a postscript. _**

            **P.S: Think you could send me a list of your favorite dueling spells? I'll, ah, be in need of them by this Sunday. Much thanks, Potter. **

**            Letter tied to the ankle of a medium-sized barn owl and safely on its way to her godbrother, Arianna headed down to dinner.**

~*~

            Stare. 

            Stare. 

            Stare. 

            A blue eye twitched slightly.

            **Ha! The hazel eyes they were locked with seemed smug. ****Stick _that in your pipe and smoke it, Kenneth __Arthur._**

**            Oh, bugger off, Black, the blue eyes retorted.**

            **Annoying twit.**

**            Insolent first year. **

**            Brainless third year. **

**            Mind you, _I managed to get into Ravenclaw. _**

**            And the Sorting Hat sent Cassidy to Gryffindor. Everyone makes mistakes. Even hats. **

**            Glare. ****Spawn of McGonagall. **

**            Wannabe Snape. **

**            A shudder. ****Large rabid**** chicken.**

**            A quirked eyebrow. ****Flaming stagediving reindeer.**

**            Oversized, three-foot-tall—**

**            You've got a sexy accent.**

**            A blink. "WHAT?!"**

            Innocent smirk. "I win, love. Pay up."

            Grumbling, the male brunette heaved his bag onto his desk. Inside was a large tub of heavy grease, roughly the size of the teen's head. Arianna stared. 

            "He uses all this on his _head?"_

            Kenny nodded. "Yup."

            Arianna blinked, and took the tub. "Merry Christmas, Kenneth _Arthur."_

            The male rolled his eyes. "_Do shut up, Black."_

            "BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Shawn screamed, slamming _Basic Defensive Charms on the library table. Madam Pince threw a quill, hitting him square between the eyes. He blinked as it slid down, leaving a long ink trail down his face. "Shh!" _

            Sighing, Shawn collapsed back to the table. Arianna snickered. Kenny grinned.         

            "Well, my precious firsties, I must get back to my fellow Ravenclaws. Good luck on your duel, Miss Black." He nodded at her. "May you kick some Vinceguerra ass." Arianna grinned, and gave an oriental bow. 

            "Arigatou gozaimasu, Kenny-san." He waved a quick goodbye, and scurried from the library, followed by Madam Pince's glare. She turned back to Shawn with a contented sigh. 

            "So, Shawn, what'd we find?" The raven-haired male glared. 

            "_We found nothing. __I, however, found __this." He shoved a piece of parchment into the brunette's hands. She scanned it over. __Expelliarmus__… Jelly-legs Jinx… oooh, I liiiiike…_

            "Beautiful, love," she said, grinning at him. Shawn sighed. 

            "You were _right when you said Blacks don't research…" he muttered. Arianna grinned._

            "Oh, we research," she said. Shawn looked up at her. "—when we really want to." Shawn heaved another sigh, head falling into his hands. Arianna laughed, smiling. "Hey, it's genetic!" 

            "Then who used to do the _other research for your father?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. _

            "One of my dad's best friends, naturally. He's told me a bunch of stories about how he'd be dragged to the library and then just sit there and try to set the Slytherins' hair on fire while his friend researched." They laughed. 

            "I'll have to try that next time," she commented with a grin. "Can't break tradition, you know."

            Shawn grinned back. "But you _can, of course, __alter it slightly to, well, let's say… a certain Ravenclaw?" Arianna nodded. _

            "But of _course, love. I wouldn't have it any other way." And then they laughed. In the back of her mind, Arianna thought, __You__ know, maybe we are__ a bit like Remus and Sirius… Only difference is, we won't end up falling in love…_

            "C'mon, let's go," she said, grabbing his arm. "Madam Pince looks like she's gonna tear my throat out and beat you with it." Shawn snorted as they walked out the door.

~*~

            Sunday morning was chaos. 

            Arianna had expected to be allowed to sleep in as late as she wanted, which she was thoroughly looking forward to. However, she was woken up at seven by McGonagall pounding on their door, demanding that everyone be down in the Great Hall in fifteen minutes. 

            Her friends looked worried as they quickly pulled on their clothes. "I'm sure it's nothing," Ace commented as they headed out through the hallways. But from the reaction of the mass population, this seemed not to be the case. 

            Suddenly, Shawn grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. "Arianna!" he hissed in her ear. "What if they found out about the duel?!" The brunette gulped, then shrugged. 

            "Then I ride it out. Now c'mon, let's get this over with." 

            The Great Hall was filled with chatter and whispers by the time Arianna and her friends got there. Most students were still in their pajamas. Several teachers were, too. Snape looked like he was in need of coffee. Several gallons of it.

            "Students, please be seated," Dumbledore said. Arianna's heart immediately plunged. His face held none of the usual amusement, and the twinkle in his eye was gone. Obediently, she took her seat next to a worried Grace (who was nervously rubbing her fuzzy blue slippers together) at the Gryffindor table.

            "There has been a terrible turn of events. It grieves me to have to tell you this so early in the year. However, it is knowledge that must be shared." The students were paling and looking very frightened. 

            "I ask that you all remain calm." Arianna took a deep breath. It didn't _sound like he was talking about the duel. __So what, then?_

            With a sad look on his face, Dumbledore continued. "A student has disappeared." The hall exploded into whispers and gasps. The man silenced them by raising a hand. 

            "If anyone has any information, please alert a teacher immediately." The hall was silent. No one moved. Taking a deep breath, Arianna rasied her hand. 

            "Yes, Miss Black?" Dumbledore asked. 

            "Who… who exactly is it that's missing?" she asked nervously.

            Someone from the Hufflepuff table let out a strangled sob. "Miss Kaori Iwakura. I believe she was a second year Hufflepuff, was she not?" He turned to Professor Sprout, who nodded solemnly. 

            Dumbledore regarded the room. Finally, he said, "Well, since we are all already gathered here, we might as well make use of it and eat." He clapped his hands, and food appeared on the table. However, no one had much of an appetite. 

            "What the hell is going on?" Grace asked finally, throwing down her fork. Arianna didn't look up from where she was mashing her eggs.

            "I don't know, Grasser," she said sadly. 

            "And I doubt they'd tell us anything more if we asked," Shawn added. 

            "Hey," Bryan said suddenly, looking thoughtful. "This could be bad for Ari's duel." 

            Ace nodded. "Yeah. If some kid disappeared, then wouldn't they tighten the school's security? Have more teachers scouting the halls at night, _not letting anyone out?"_

            Arianna grinned as she stood from the table with her friends. "Then I'll just have to pull a little Marauder's Magic, hmm?" They blinked. 

            "Marauders?" Arianna grinned mischievously. Shawn shook his head. 

            "I don't wanna know…"

            Later, at lunch, Arianna received a letter from Harry.

**Dear Arianna,**

**I'm glad you're doing good so far. Sirius sends his love and says that he's proud of you, but also to stay out of trouble.**

**Ginny was doing WHAT?! Oh no... I feel sick... oh God... oh Jesus...**

**These are some interesting doodles, Arianna. I'm not even going to ask about the ones in the bottom left corner. They rather disturb me.**

**Shawn sounds like an interesting person. I would much like to meet him. Maybe I can teach him a few tricks. Or maybe the other way round...**

**A boys' dorm?**** But... you're a girl... And he tried to turn your friend into a marmoset? ****Bouncing ferrets are much more persuading.**

**Grace McCartney: Brilliant at Charms, eh? Reminds me of a friend of mine named Hermione. But then again, Hermione was brilliant at _everything_. So that doesn't really say much. ...singing underpants? I remind myself: with Arianna, it is best not to ask.**

**Ace Young: Viva la... okay. Um... ah... moving on.**

**Shawn Russell: Somewhere in there is a compliment. I'm going to just focus on that.**

**Bryan Murray: Again with the marmosets...**

**...plastic moose...rubber pants...for the sake of my sanity, this will probably be the last letter I write you, unless Sirius insists that I do.**

**_Harry_******

**p.s. I have enclosed a list of handy dueling charms on the enclosed parchment. Good luck!**

The brunette smirked. _Oh, this makes writing to Potter much__ more enjoyable… She read over the list attached, and then shoved both pieces of parchment into her pocket. Shawn cocked an eyebrow at her. _

"Arianna Black, what did you do _now?" She grinned._

"I scarred my godbrother for life!" she said proudly. Bryan blinked. 

"Godbrother?" Arianna rolled her eyes. 

"Potter, remember?" He "aaaah"-ed loudly. She sighed. 

Ace poked her with his fork. "So you gonna write him back?" The brunette shrugged. 

"Maybe after the duel," she said, flinging a piece of potato at Ginny Weasley, who had apparently noticed that the owl was Harry's and had been staring at it with glittering eyes. The redhead huffed and turned away. 

**_Serves the sheet-molester right…_**the voice in Arianna's head commented. For once, Arianna agreed. 

~*~

The time before midnight was spent researching further and finishing up their homework. It was 11:30 too quickly for any of them. With a sigh, Arianna hauled herself up from the common room's couch. "Uuuugh…" 

"You sure you don't want us to come along?" Bryan asked, looking up from his Potions assignment. Arianna shook her head. 

"No, I'm goin' solo." She stretched up, tucking her wand into the holster in the sleeve of her robes as she did so. For a moment, she just stood there, looking at her friends. Then Ace stood up and pulled her into a hug. 

"Good luck, Ari," he said, squeezing her to his chest. As they separated, she grinned. 

"Hey, no sweat, right?" She headed for the door.

"Hey, Ari?" Grace called after her. She paused, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah?"

Grace grinned. "If you don't come back, can I have your Transfiguration homework?" Arianna grinned back and walked out of the common room. 

~*~

Ignazio was waiting for her, leaning casually against the doorframe. **_Who gave him the idea that he was cool, and where can I find this person so I can slap them?_** While she agreed with the voice, she silenced it. 

"Well, I see you didn't chicken out," Ignazio drawled. "I supposed you deserve _some credit for coming, even though you knew you were going to __lose." Arianna rolled her eyes. _

"Look, how long are you going to stall, Vinceguerra?" she asked impatiently. He bristled. 

"Why you--!" Arianna just rolled her eyes again, pulling her wand from her sleeve and baring the red mark on her arm. She sighed with annoyance. 

"Let's just begin, shall we?" Ignazio bit off his retort and unbuttoned the top of his robes and the shirt underneath, baring an intricate red mark with the initials _A.B. in the center. He looked up from it to her, and sneered. _

"You can still back down, Black." Arianna raised an eyebrow. 

"And why would I ever want to do that?" Ignazio glared. Before he could speak, Arianna tapped her wand to her mark. It seemed to glow for a moment before it floated from her flesh, hovering in front of her. With a resigned sigh, the greasy-headed male did the same. They arranged themselves so that they were back to back. 

"Ten paces, got it?" Arianna nodded. Realizing he couldn't see her, she replied, "Yep."

Arianna began sorting through all her spells. _Expelliarmus would be her best bet, but if Ignazio was quicker to use it, she would be defenseless until she managed to grab her wand. She'd be hexed three times past Sunday before she could reach it. __Hrm__… _

Her ten paces were up. She quickly spun, wand out, and yelled, "_Pumlius__ Pumilio!" just as Ignazio yelled, "__Rictusempra__!" Arianna turned to dodge it, sending her spell flying into Flitwick's chair. It transformed itself into one of her chibi duplicates and launched itself at the screaming Vinceguerra's head. Arianna was too busy laughing on the floor to notice. _

"Damned… tickling charm…" she wheezed between attacks of laughter. "F-fin…" _Get a hold on yourself, Black! Come on… Think of something not funny… Think… Dementors, think Voldemort…_

**_Think of Voldie and the Dementors in tutus!_** the voice in her head cried. 

_Shush! You're not helping! Arianna was aware that Vinceguerra was finally throwing off the chibi. __Come on… Think serious… _

**_Think what will happen if you lose_****. **Well, _that was a waker-upper. Arianna took that moment to point her wand at herself and say, "__Finite Incantatum!" She pulled herself up just as Ignazio transfigured the chibi into a cheeseball, which he quickly crushed. __Oh well, the brunette thought idly, __looks like Flitwick just lost his chair…_

"Well," Ignazio, began, sneering, "it looks like…" Arianna tuned him out. **_Merlin, does he ever__ shut his mouth?_** The brunette gave a mental shrug, pointed her wand at him lazily, and cut him off with a, "_Tarantallegra__!" _

Ignazio glared. "Hey! I was talki--, oh, screw it. _Locomotor__ Mortis!" Arianna cursed. __Great, just great… He's Jelly-Legsed and I'm leg-locked. Oh, the joys of my life…_

**_Oh, stop whining already! He's about to attack! _**"_Relashio!"_

"_Engorgio__!" Arianna would have laughed at Ignazio's growing head had she not just been hit by a string of fiery sparks. She growled. _

"_Ferula!" she cried. Ignazio began to say his own spell when he paused, blinking. _

"Ferula? You moron, that conjures up a wooden—GAAAAAAH!" He was cut off by Arianna beating him over the head with the wooden rod. She laughed. Ignazio put his arms up to cover his head, making a low, angry sound in his throat.

"_Incend--!" __Oh, crap… Arianna yelled the first spell that came to mind. _

"_ALOHOMORA!" The tiny closet in the corner sprung open. Arianna fell over, just barely missing the fire conjuring spell, her wand falling just a few feet out of reach. However, she couldn't get back up. She watched as Ignazio turned to stare at an elderly man wearing a business suit who had just fallen out of the closet. The man held up a pad of paper in front of Ignazio's face. _

Said raven-haired male ran screaming from the room. Or as well as one can run while under the Jelly-Legs Jinx. 

Arianna blinked, looking at the paper. And bit back a laugh. _"The estate and all possessions of the Vinceguerra family have been seized due to bankruptcy." What a moron. What a money-obsessed moron. _

The brunette stared at the man. He began towards her, shifting shape. "What the--?!" It dawned on her. "_Boggart!"_

The dark creature finished shifting shape. "What. The. _Hell?!" __It has to be defective. Yes, that's right. A defective boggart. That's can't be what it thinks I'll fear the most… Arianna stared as boggart-Hagrid (clothed in a plastic-looking pink paisley miniskirt and a similar-colored tube top) began singing. "Oops! I did it again… I played with your heart… Got lost in the game… Oh, baby baby…" _

Arianna screamed. Boggart-Hagrid winked one of his overly-made up eyes. The brunette felt queasy. "Damn you, Vinceguerra," she muttered as Hagrid danced. "Damn you and your leg-locking-ness to hell…"

Mercifully, the door swung open. "_Riddikulus!" a voice cried. Arianna looked up to see the boggart turn into a large, silvery glowing orb before Remus locked it back into the closet. Vinceguerra raised an eyebrow from behind Snape. Arianna just gulped. _

"Miss Black!" McGonagall's stern voice yelled. The brunette bit back a wince. Those were the _last three people she wanted to be around when she was rule-breaking. "What do you think you are doing?!" Ignazio smirked from behind Snape. Arianna glared at him. _

Without turning, McGonagall said, "Don't think that you are going to escape punishment, Mr. Vinceguerra. Stand here, both of you." Ignazio gulped, standing where McGonagall had gestured. Arianna began trying to pull herself to the wall with her elbows. With a sigh, Remus came over, pulling her up. 

"_Finite Incantatem." He handed her back her wand. She took it silently, flexing her stiff knees. Arianna was careful not to meet his eyes. She didn't want to have to see the disappointment in her father's face she knew she'd see. _

"What were you two thinking?!" McGonagall demanded. "You _heard about Miss Iwakura, did you not?" The two students kept their eyes downcast. "Well? Did you not?" Arianna nodded._

"Yes, we did, ma'am." 

"Then what possessed you two to go off and decide to duel in an empty corridor _after hours with the risk?" They were obediently silent. She fixed a stern glare on them. "Well?"_

"Professor McGonagall--" Ignazio began. The witch held up a hand to silence him. "No, Mr. Vinceguerra. I do not wish to hear it. I must get back to my rounds. I will leave you with Professor Snape so that he may assign you your punishments." Arianna fought a gulp. Snape looked too excited. She was _doomed. _

Her brain began playing through all the possibilities. "Miss Black," Snape began, sneering, "you will have to help Hagrid pick out his dress for the Yule Ball this year." Arianna shuddered. "I think he looks rather stunning in pink paisley, don't you agree?" She felt sick. From behind Snape, Hagrid winked. _Ergh__… Merlin, have mercy! _

"Well, Miss Black? Miss Black?" A disgusted sigh. "Miss Black!" Arianna's head shot up. She breathed a sigh of relief. _Only a nightmare… Err, daydream… No! Not a daydream! Errrrgh. It was a… daymare. Mmm. That's it. She blinked innocently up at her professor. _

"Yes, sir?" He glared in disgust. 

"Can't even manage to pay attention to your own punishment, can you?" Ignzaio sneered over Snape's shoulder. Arianna fought back her glare. "Five points from Gryffindor, as well as the fifty this little… _escapade… has lost." He sneered. _

"Severus…" Remus piped in, "Fifty is much too much, don't you agree? I believe that this only deserves half that amount." Snape glared at him. Remus stared calmly back. Snape made a disgusted sound. 

"Fine… _Twenty-five points this little escapade lost." Arianna relaxed slightly. "Too accompany this, you will be sorting out the student store cupboards on Monday. Eight o' clock sharp." She bit back a groan. The student store cupboards were the reasons students brought their __own materials. Merlin only knew what Snape would keep in there… _

Snape turned to Ignazio. "As for you, twenty-five points from Ravenclaw, and…" He thought for a moment before sneering evilly. "…you will help the house-elves clean up the results of the prank in the Entrance bathroom." He paused dramatically. "Without magic." Ignazio's face fell. He gaped. It took all Arianna had not to laugh. 

"Now, off with you." He began pushing them out of the Charms classroom. "We will lead you back to avoid further mischief." 

Out of the corner of her mouth, she murmured, "Ha ha, you get led back by Snape." Ignazio glared.

"Shut up, Black." She smirked. 

"Git."

"Arsehole."

"Oh, I am so deeply wounded by your wit."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"…I won."

She raised an eyebrow. "You ran screaming from the room." 

"But the ending ritual was never performed. Therefore…"

"…the bonded duel is null and void. Merry Christmas."

"…It's _September."_

Silence. 

"…Bitch."

"Moron."

Remus sighed. "Are you two quite through yet?" Arianna blushed. She hadn't realized she'd raised her voice. Apparently, Ignazio hadn't, either. Snape ushered him down the corridor to wherever the Ravenclaw dormitories were. With a sigh, Arianna began towards Gryffindor Tower, falling into step with her father. 

**_Well…_** the voice in her head began, in a comforting tone, **_I'll bet Potter didn't get a detention in his__ first week…_**

Arianna just groaned. 

_¤~End Chapter~¤_

            Third chapter by the Ara completed. All *counts* twenty-eight-and-a-half pages of it. O.o Ohh my… 

**_Ara's_****_ Replies:_**

**Shi-chan: *head burst with pride* YAAAAAAAAY! THE SHI-CHAN'S BEEN CONVERTED TO THE YAOI SIDE! *bounces* Yaoi/Slash is the basis of all my favorite pairings. I rarely ever read het stuff unless it's on the side of a slash fic. ^^ Oooh, yes, Kevin _does go to my school. I was talking to him last week and suddenly said, "You know, I'm writing a story, and in it, you get set on fire a lot." Can't understand why he's been avoiding me since… *shrug* Ah, well. Yes, he is a scary little dude. ^__^ Don't we all, dear, don't we all… Thankies for the reviews. ^^_**

**Jake: *leaps to the defense of the -kuns* Kun can be used for tomboyish females, like Miss Black. Or meeee. But I'm Ara-chan, anyway. Because Ara-chan RULES. *cough* Keitaro's one of my favorite manga dudes. 'Cause he is. And who can resist the Tama-chan?! WHO?! **

**_Scrat's_****_ Replies:_**

**Jester's Miss American Pie: Yes, yes you ARE "that special." *nods and passes out*******

**Tempral**** Bouncer: Dot doot. ... IT WASN'T MY FAULT! Ari was supposed to tell you... T_T *carefully avoids the fact that she was the one who wrote Chapter 4*******

**Jakie****: *blinks and hides* Rice and beans, m'dear... rice and beans...******

**_¤~Reader's Poll~¤_**

**__**

_It's back again, my loves! The Reader's Poll of DOOM!_

_So tell us, dearies:_

_Who is YOUR favorite Child of Night character?_

_Is it __Bryan__? Or perhaps everyone's favorite greaseball, Vinceguerra?_

_You tell us! _


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